4 Auspiced by Outlink, a project of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission with funding from the Australian Youth Foundation. Produced with funding from the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, the ALSO Foundation and Rabbit International. We also acknowledge the Victorian AIDS Council/Gay Men s Health Centre for their infrastructure and other support during the preparation of this manual. Copyright Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Anyone may copy, extract from or quote from the kit without any obligation to seek the Commission s permission or acknowledge the Commission as long as the source of the training is acknowledged. Further copies may be obtained from: The Human Rights Unit Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 1042 Feedback to: Miller, Kenton Penley. Not round here: affirming diversity, challenging homophobia: rural service providers training manual. ISBN Lesbianism - Australia. 2. Education, Rural - Australia. 3. Homophobia - Australia - Handbooks, manuals, etc. 4. Gay rights - Australia. 5. Homosexuality and education - Australia - Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Mahamati. II. Australia. Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. III. Outlink. IV. Title Design by Mik O Leary Printed by DP Ink, Norwood SA

5 The authors Kenton Miller & Mahamati Although separated by thousands of kilometres, we still sustain a friendship and working relationship through s, phone calls and sending each other escapist fiction. Mahamati identifies as a lesbian who is a Social Worker, who has worked in the fields of domestic violence, sexual assault, and sexual abuse in several organisations. These have included the Rape Crisis Centre and Yarrow Place. She ran the LBW program (for young women wanting to explore issues around being lesbian or bisexual) at The Second Story Youth Health Centre. Together with Kenton Miller, she went on to develop the Block Out/Challenging Homophobia training kit. Since then she has been employed as the original Co-ordinator of Bfriend at the Adelaide Central Mission (a buddy system assisting newly identifying gay, lesbian and bisexual people to explore their choices in a non-threatening manner). During this time she also maintained her role as the Project Officer for the Women Partners of Bisexual Men project at Gay Men s Health at the AIDS Council of South Australia. She currently works as the Regional Co-ordinator of the Cairns branch of QuAC (the Queensland AIDS Council), enjoying the tropical weather, short walk to the beach from her home and the windfall mangoes in her back yard. Kenton Miller identifies as a gay man who happens to be a cartoonist (under the name Kenton Penley ), who worked for several years at the AIDS Council of South Australia as the Information and Training Officer. During this time he was also the media spokesperson for the political activist group Lesbian and Gay Community Action. He left the AIDS Council to take up work at The Second Story Youth Health Service. There he was originally employed as a Script Development Officer, working with a group of young gay men and lesbians to develop a community theatre piece about gay bashing, enabled by funding made available through the Come Out festival. With Mahamati, he went on to develop the Block Out/Challenging Homophobia training kit. He was also employed at The Second Story as a Research Officer, during which time he wrote the research paper Ignore Them And They ll Go Away - Gay, Lesbian And Bisexual Young People And Suicide. He was then employed as the Campaigns Officer for Gay Men s Health, a program area of the AIDS Council of South Australia. He currently works as Peer Education Officer for the VAC/GMHC (Victorian AIDS Council/Gay Men s Health Centre). In his spare time he volunteers as the co-convenor of the VGLRL (the Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby).

9 Part 1 Introduction & Overview Training Notes for Facilitators 1 Outlink: Why a rural focus? The Outlink project was established by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission with funding assistance from the Australian Youth Foundation. Outlink s aim was to establish a national lesbian, gay and bisexual rural youth network. The Commission s desire to establish such a network has arisen from: Recent studies showing higher than average levels of suicide, homelessness, drug and alcohol use, conflict with peers and parents and early school leaving amongst the target group, and The absence of any appropriate and relevant support services in many rural and regional areas. The Commission engaged a part-time Project Co-ordinator (Rodney Croome) who has travelled extensively in rural Australia conducting a stock-take of existing services, consultations about services required and meetings with service providers and young lgbts. In establishing a network of young rural lgbts 2 and the people who work with them, extensive consultations were conducted in rural and regional areas of NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, the ACT, South Australia, and Queensland. These have revealed: an ever-growing interest in challenginghomophobia training amongst rural and regional youth service providers including teachers, counsellors, youth workers, mental, sexual and rural health workers, and accommodation providers an urgent need amongst people who are currently delivering challenginghomophobia training for a challenginghomophobia kit that is designed for use in rural and regional areas. In areas as diverse as the NSW Central West, South Western Victoria and Townsville community health workers, together with young lgbts from the district, regularly conduct challenging-homophobia workshops for service providers and school groups. The material they use is usually cobbled together from one or more of several existing challenginghomophobia kits including Block Out (from Adelaide), Affirming Diversity (from Auckland) or Out with Homophobia (from Queensland). In all cases the workers and young people involved in the delivery of these workshops expressed a desire to have a kit which, unlike any of the kits currently available, includes exercises, examples, scenarios, illustrations, ideas and references relevant to life in rural areas. They expressed a need for materials which: challenge the particular forms which homophobia takes in a rural context, illustrate the particular problems facing young rural lgbts, and above all affirm the positive aspects of life in rural communities for young lgbts. Some of the special challenges and opportunities faced by young rural lgbts, challenges and opportunities which need to be addressed by a rural challenging-homophobia kit, are summed up by the following words from a sexual health nurse based in Orange NSW. Because these kids live in a country town they have real problems with anonymity. They need places where they can meet other young gays 1 Adapted from CAWISE Work ItOutside - Train The Trainer Project, Final Project Report & Evaluation: Some Thoughts on Challenging Homophobia With Education. Done for The Second Story Youth Health Service, , by Kenton Penley and Mahamati (Project Officers) 2 The term we use throughout this kit is lgbt. Lgbt is shorthand for lesbians, gay men, bisexual and transgendered people. We may specifically spell out issues to do with transgendered people. Although the issue is often different (that is, transsexuals face issues around gender, not sexuality unless they are same-sex attracted in their new gender identity), it may well be they face the same prejudice. Part 1 Introduction & Overview Training Notes for Facilitators 7

10 Part 1 Introduction & Overview Training Notes for Facilitators and lesbians, but they also have a sense of belonging within this community - a sense of belonging they may not find in Sydney. It was also felt that the advantages of producing a national rural affirming diversity/ challenging homophobia kit would be that it would: provide challenging-homophobia educators with relevant and up-to-date materials for their work, ensure a high and consistent standard of challenginghomophobia training across the country, and ensure that an increased number of youth service providers are aware of, and sensitive to, the needs of their young lgbt clients. Experience in challenging homophobia training The authors of this kit have extensive experience in what is a relatively new field. We state this not from a place of ego, but rather in an attempt to give ourselves credentials when we offer advice and observations. In 1993 we developed the Block Out/ Challenging Homophobia kit; we had aimed to develop training that would address the blocks that prevented young lgbts from accessing services hence Block Out. We were especially interested in providing training to those service providers based in the high school system, particularly counsellors. We ran the early workshops for a range of people in services for young people, from the school system through to privately run Christian youth shelters. A dozen of these original pilot workshops were held, in metropolitan and rural areas. Since these training workshops we have run many more, often under the title of Diversity Training. These have been run for a range of organisations, from police through to aged care facilities. At least one organisation, in which we trained a few hundred workers, was predominantly Christian in its outlook (indeed, some parts of the organisation were actively connected to the retraining of homosexuals). The assumption that the only people who have done our challenging homophobia training were already converted is an inaccurate one. It has also led us to develop a number of new exercises since Block Out; which seek to address the issues of those who feel that providing services for, or working with, lgbts goes against their moral beliefs. However, seeing people who appear to be rigid and inflexible around the issue of sexuality demonstrate a shift in ideas and attitudes has also fortified our belief that a lot of homophobia is based on misinformation and can be corrected. This has motivated us greatly; as has the earlier research we did in proving that young gay men, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people are at increased risk from a number of factors (eg. suicidal ideation, leaving school early, homelessness, violence, drug and alcohol abuse, etc.). Ethics and beliefs behind the training It was our belief that if a health service is offered to all young people, this had to be inclusive. Just as one might adapt a service to provide culturally sensitive services for young people of a different ethnicity, we believed that such adaptations might be extended to cater for the needs of those of minority sexuality. We believe that multiculturalism and lgbt affirmations have these edicts in common: our people deserve the same rights as all people. However, for these equal rights to be realised, there may need to be an adaptation to compensate for a difference, so that they are not denied the same access and rights as other people. We also have a firm belief that people employed where the equal opportunity laws forbid discrimination on the ground of sexuality, had better be aware that it is illegal for them to discriminate against clients. Nor should they refuse to attend training in Affirming Diversity/ Challenging Homophobia offered by their workplace - unless they want to be personally liable when they are sued, and their workplace can prove that they offered them this support. 8

11 We ask people not to accept blame for their homophobia (as we live in a society that endorses and supports it) but to accept responsibility for it. If people consider themselves too homophobic to not be able to offer a non-homophobic service to a client of their service, then they had better have the skills to refer on! Some of the assumptions behind our training are: We believe homophobia is not innate, it is a learned thing. Hence, we believe it can be unlearned. We believe that it is not a question of exploring whether or not we re homophobic, but a case of exploring the ways in which we are homophobic. (self identify as being homophobic) We believe we live in a homophobic world, or at least one that is supportive of homophobia in subtle and not so subtle ways. Hence, we don t blame people for being homophobic. We do ask that they take responsibility for their homophobia though. The motivations of the reasons for homophobia can be understood and, as such, addressed. Homophobia occurs on a number of levels, both implicitly and explicitly. There are a number of attitudes that constitute homophobia, and yet there is little understanding of these or the impact they have on lesbians, transgendered people, bisexuals or gay men. Homophobia impacts upon transgender, lesbian, gay and bisexual people in a number of ways that can lead to internalised homophobia. Many people of sexual minorities are cheated of an understanding of how this impacts on their lives. De-intellectualising and guest speakers In the literature search on challenginghomophobia training, which we had originally done for Block Out, the training and development notes made a recurring observation that, at the very least, adult learning styles were needed to have any sort of lasting impact. However, there was a warning that training about homophobia often failed to engage people on a feeling level, often concentrating solely on frameworks and models explaining the issues. We believe both to be crucial. Of course, such frameworks are important especially in a world that pays little attention to homophobia. When it does, the word is often used in such a broad-brush manner that little understanding is garnered of it. Many seem to be irritated with the use of the term without understanding it. The early core part of our training has always included exercises addressing the term homophobia, where we pull it apart and put it back together again. For the remainder of the training we have chosen to pursue an approach we called de-intellectualising and also to use guest speakers whenever we could. Utilising an lgbt person, especially from the area the training is being conducted in 3, has always been the crucial moment in shifting even the most hardened of homophobic participants. Our motto in developing the training has always been Whatever works. Hence we developed myth busting balloons (if only to wake people up) and other fun translations. Theory is important (crucial on this subject, where not many have exposure to this information), but presented as dry and drab chunks will often have people switching off. This explains the presence of cartoons here, sugar coating for the pills some may find bitter to swallow. Levels at which changes have to be made in your organisation You need to discuss these points with organisations undergoing this training. Ask if their organisations have a commitment to exploring homophobia on the following organisational levels: in the services that their organisation provides to the public (ie. clinical) being Part 1 Introduction & Overview Training Notes for Facilitators 3 This may seem to be impossible in rural regions. However, we have found that there is usually one person in the health network who has a case involving such a person. When that person is offered a chance to share their story in the knowledge that it may well help others like them in future (and where payment for their expertise is assured). 9

12 Part 1 Introduction & Overview Training Notes for Facilitators more accessible to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender clients in the training that their organisation may offer to other health workers, teachers and community members (some of which may already include sexuality and challenging homophobia components) It s also clear though that before these two aspects of service delivery can enjoy success, they need to also be supported by a commitment to exploring homophobia at the following organisational levels: in the organisational culture (eg. the training and support of staff and by workers being able to demonstrate an understanding of the issues) at a management and policy level, where the organisation can demonstrate a commitment to the other levels being pursued and supported. This work then, begins to address both the first level of services (by enabling service providers to consider how to work better with such clients) and the third level (training and supporting staff around the issue of homophobia). The organisation s role in offering services to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people You need to discuss with organisations undergoing this training some of these key points: Lgbt people, for example, often already have their own GPs. What do you offer them that is special, that they can t get from other services? (ie. You could save them a trip to the city) Many of your organisation s service providers may talk about not being ready to do this work. How much extra work is really needed, apart from a bit of training and sensitivity, to be ready to do this work? Conversely, if you advertise your organisation to these target groups, will you be able to offer what they need? There is no point in your organisation having a commitment to providing services or training to these target groups without committing to also providing resources to ensure the success of these ventures. These and a few other points may seem to be blocks. In reality, not considering them before offering services, or expanding in service delivery, may prove to be the largest blocks of all. What this manual is not Firstly, it needs to be said that this manual is not the answer. It is only a tool (or a collection of tools) to be used as part of a broad- ranging strategy. This training is to provide a support base of service providers who can assist young lgbts, but what is also needed is a support base for the service providers. Decent policy and resourcing also needs to be put into place to assist these people in providing good services. This manual is also not, unlike Block Out, a collection of resources. When we developed that training kit there was no general access to the Internet. The hope is that people will be able to download support material from the World Wide Web, or that someone with greater resourcing than we have at the time of developing this manual will be able to produce a collection of back up resources. These will need to be quotes, from lgbts and our allies; and facts and figures (as participants invariably ask How do you know that? ) and other supportive paraphernalia. Our suggestion is that, as a trainer, grab what you can to defend your arguments. There are some excellent resources around. This manual is also not a finished work. It never is, it seems. The need to provide new and fresher approaches is always there, so we would ask that, as people using this training, that you respond to the Evaluation form for trainers (see The Closing Bit ). This feedback will be fed into future editions or support work provided by Outlink on doing challenging homophobia/affirming diversity work. 10

13 Sexuality and Homophobia Issues for Facilitators Adult education often raises the possibility of the presenter/ facilitator being called into question over his/her stance on the issues. Challenging homophobia/affirming diversity training could be the most challenging you have ever run as a facilitator. For some, you may never feel as personally vilified and attacked by your participants; for others, it may compound the attacks that you have already endured in your life, while lessening your capacity to personally defend yourself. For some participants, this training will not be voluntary. For some of these people it may feel they are being forced to let go of their very moral fibre. To them, it will be as if they (the hideous lesbians and gay men that we know really run the world) have won and taken over from good, decent folks. This training has to be handled thoughtfully; the participants have to be treated with respect even if they seem to be offering none themselves. The irony is that the most homophobic things that the participants have to say should be said if at all possible within the open area of the group. It s only when an atmosphere of safety has been created that allows participants to speak of these issues that they can be fully addressed. Challenging homophobia cannot work if the homophobia itself is left unspoken. Diane Benjamin says, in the training kit Affirming Sexual Diversity: An Interactive Model For AIDS Educators We must resist temptation to censure homophobic comments in public. Unless we deal with the deep-seated feelings from which these comments arise, then homophobia educators become little more than courtesy cops. While it may become less acceptable to make homophobic quips, jokes, and comments in public, these privately held feelings will remain - relegated to a private world barred from homophobia educators. This, of course, has to be balanced against the presenter feeling alright about this poison being aired. If you as a facilitator are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered or even a close friend and ally of the above hearing the bitter and hateful things people have to say about non-heterosexual people can have a distressing impact. No matter how prepared you feel, you may find yourself slumping after such a session. It does little good some days to say to yourself well, I did really well, listen to all that vile and hateful stuff they felt safe enough to come out with!. Especially so as to reduce the backlash that may occur (see What about us poor Hets? ) a facilitator wanting to work in this field must have sorted through at least some of these feelings in advance. If you re lucky, you ll have a supportive workplace that will allow for a pre-briefing as well as de-briefing. If not, warn a couple of intelligent close friends what you re going to do and suggest you may need some quality time afterwards. Heterosexuals as trainers A point for major consideration is that of disclosure of the trainer s sexuality. When the Block Out project first began in Adelaide, there were two general responses against training heterosexuals to run courses for young lgbt from within the lgbt communities. These were: heterosexuals will never fully understand how it is to be a non-heterosexual facing the issues that these young people have to, and heterosexuals will never care enough about nonheterosexuals to support them/us anyway. These two points of despair demonstrate how internalised oppression can become a selffulfilling prophecy. As important as having Part 1 Introduction & Overview Sexuality & Homophobia Issues for Facilitators 11

14 Part 1 Introduction & Overview Sexuality & Homophobia Issues for Facilitators good lgbt peers or mentors is being able to actively demonstrate that there are heterosexual allies out there. To have a compassionate heterosexual, able to demonstrate good understanding of the issues, running a workshop for young lgbts runs directly counter to the feelings of isolation that can too often plague young people. Besides this, there is sometimes a necessity, particularly in rural regions, for people to be running such programs without the risk of being labelled as an lgbt person. Generally, workshop leaders who are successful have explored their own homophobia through readings, direct experience, introspection, and conversations; participated in workshops on homophobia and observed other leaders; and led workshops on homophobia. If you ve done some personal exploration and participated in other workshops, then you may be ready to co-lead with an experienced leader. Gay, bisexual, lesbian and transgender trainers: don t ask, don t tell? There are many thoughts around sharing one s non-heterosexuality in the context of a challenging homophobia workshop. Kathy Obear, in her training Opening Doors to Understanding and Acceptance, has written the following about the decision to disclose: A serious issue for facilitators to consider before the workshop is whether or not to discuss their own sexual orientation with participants. In many ways it would be a no-win situation if facilitators announced their sexual orientation during the introduction: if you said you were a lesbian, gay or bisexual, then some participants might discredit everything you say because you re trying to persuade them you re normal ; however, if you tell them you are not lesbian, gay or bisexual, some may question your legitimacy as a presenter and wonder How does he/she know it s true or not?...(on the other hand) some gay, lesbian and bisexual presenters decide to be open about their sexual orientation in order to provide the participants with a chance to get to know a real lesbian, bisexual or gay. This opportunity to interact with positive role models...seems to provide positive results. For most it would be considered a matter of personal choice. Considering the need to incorporate as much emotional perspective as possible to ground the theory, the trainers may wish to not only come out as regards their sexuality, but also as regards their personal experiences with and observations of homophobia. A certain level of intelligence and brevity has to be utilised here, so that the training doesn t cross the line from providing good information to becoming an opportunity for the presenter to get therapy time from the participants. The assumption of most people entering the room is that you, as the facilitator, are gay or lesbian anyway - at least. You may well be a trannie in some eyes and bisexuality will be suspected at a minimum. At best, some will believe you are more tolerant of these people than they are and are probably out to prove that they are ignorant and hateful. Some will be incredibly defensive (ie. I m not homophobic ) while others may well be defiant, fearful that you have some magic way of telling what they re really like. A good first step may be to admit within the first few moments that you do consider yourself to be homophobic. Establish early on that you re not about judging people, it s understandable that everyone carries this to some degree because we live in a world that supports it, as you ll elaborate during the training. The relief can be visible in some groups. We still find it surprising how much fear this subject generates. A quote we use often is: It s important to recognise that all of us have homophobia. The key to this training is for you to be able to self-identify your level of homophobia, or what some of your attitudes might be, to see how they impact on either your service delivery, or your work with clients. 12

15 Internalised homophobia: getting your buttons pushed Although many will assume that you are lesbian or gay when they see you facilitating these groups, such thoughts do not guarantee any thoughtfulness around how you may react, as facilitator, to comments the participants make. The opposite, almost many people seize the opportunity of being in a group as a chance to be heard. You may be, in their mind, the first gay or lesbian person they ve had a chance to talk to someone they can let know what they really think about you people. The dark side of the point made earlier, that the most homophobic things that the participants have to say should be said, is that you will have to hear these things. It may well not be the first time that you have heard abuse like this, but it may be the first time that you have to smile graciously about it and encourage the saying of it. However, this abuse may be easier to hear than the insidious homophobia that some participants indulge in this can be especially hard if you are the only person in the room who is recognising it as such. To avoid feeling as if you are mad (or too sensitive after all), debriefing before and after training sessions is probably crucial. It also helps to be working in pairs with someone who is both sympathetic and supportive. See if you can work out ways to support yourself in such hard moments. For some, this may be as simple as developing a mantra and/or a litany of things to say in hard moments (this can vary from I am proud of my sexuality through to I must not kill the participants ). For others, briefly excusing yourself to take a quick five-minute walk to regain self-control can save hours of stress (if not lives of participants). Quite simply, there is no way that we could be doing this work if we didn t remind ourselves constantly of the end goal. It s not really us that we re doing the training for it s the other lgbt people who may one day have these people as their service providers. It doesn t matter if they treat us badly nay, it s better if they do because we can prepare ourselves for it. Rather us than the unsuspecting lgbt client who walks into a wall of homophobia. But what about us poor hets? As we mentioned, the backlash around running this training could almost be an argument against ever running it. The goal of the training is to enable service providers to be less judgemental about lgbt people and to work more closely with them. This will not be accomplished if people resent the training or feel as though they cannot speak up in the group setting only to take it out on their clients later. It might feel to them, to borrow the ugly language of the conservative right wing in the US, as if lgbt people have special rights. There is often ignorance around our rights (ie. believing that we have exactly the same rights as heterosexual people) that can be simply corrected. Not all homophobic responses are going to be so easily addressed however. Urvashi Vaid spoke of the good, the bad and the ugly homophobes. We believe that a simple way to define those opposed to lgbt rights might be to group such people into the three categories of the concerned, the ignorant and the hostile (which Ms Vaid glibly refers to as the good, the bad and the ugly). The (good) concerned people are those who want to do the right thing by everyone, but have moral qualms, or unease about things they might have heard about us. We believe that many of their concerns can be addressed with good information, and that these opponents can often turn out to be our best allies. The (bad) ignorant people often think they ve never met an lgbt person, and look to their religious leaders or talkback radio show hosts as a source of guidance. Again, we believe that education can turn some of these attitudes around, although it s often a slower process, and needs the added back-up of being able to tackle the environment that supports these conservative views. The (ugly) hostile opponents are the most difficult to challenge, often setting lgbt people up against institutions (such as Part 1 Introduction & Overview Sexuality & Homophobia Issues for Facilitators 13

16 family and love) they hope will gain them public sympathy. These people, working from inside of groups that espouse either family values or that argue for the need for a more conservative, easily understood role-based society (where men are men etc), portray lgbt people as a threat to all that is good and decent. Statistics are turned around and thwarted, opinion gets quoted as fact, and the real oppressions that our people face are misrepresented, buried under the imaginary menace that we pose to all who are good and decent, and, of course, their children. translate to other issues quite readily. Be wary of those who rush to take the focus away from homophobia too quickly however (ie. I m just going to do this scale of attitudes, but I m going to be thinking of teen mothers while you go through it! ). One of our favourite responses to this concern occurred when a female doctor raised the issue that gay men had nothing to do with her actual life, and to some degree she resented having to learn about their issues. This was countered by a gay male doctor saying that, as a gay man, gynaecological issues didn t at all impact him upon, yet he learnt them because it was important for his work as a doctor. One person acknowledged that dealing with these issues was alright, if she was able to learn from gay and lesbian issues and apply these things to other groups. Part 1 Introduction & Overview Sexuality & Homophobia Issues for Facilitators When workers ask Why this subject? What is often confusing in challenging homophobia education, is what is being asked of you as a worker. One of the confusing aspects is what is being asked of you in how you treat lgbt people - do they want to be treated the same as everybody else, or do they want special treatment? Sometimes, being asked to do work on your homophobia can feel like an insult, as if people are suggesting that you re homophobic! You may be doing really well on this topic, and it s important that this gets recognised. Your organisation or agency, or just you as a worker, need to have good service provision for all and you really need to be able to provide a safe work place. That said, work in this field can feel for some organisations like an overfocus. Why do we need to go on and on about heterosexual dominance? Hell, there are equally, if not more important things aren t there? Like racism, class issues, what else? What about the huge number of other issues especially for people isolated in rural Australia? Participants could be reminded that their organisation, or they themselves, might have a commitment to a number of oppressions being countered. Be clear that this work is to assist the participants in dealing with their homophobia. Some of the models may The frameworks offered for understanding such notions as internalised homophobia have been taken up by workers and applied to other understandings in their lives. I ve used this (whatever works, folks!) and it s left people with a good feeling about the training I think, because it s felt more personally relevant for them. Another participant once expressed concern that their colleagues were stuck on these issues. I strongly feel this is an issue that can only be resolved once the training has occurred for everybody in the organisation. This will, at least, give people a common language to discuss the issues. The main concern is that the training forums have become a debriefing ground for the issue, and that this has lead to a blowout of allotted time in each session. The good news is that through these training sessions, those involved in the situation have, thus far, indicated that they feel as though they are able to move forward on the issue. 14

17 Part 2 Using this kit Style and Content of this Training Content of this training The content contains original exercises as well as material begged, borrowed and plundered (though duly acknowledged) from three key sources. These sources are Block Out/Challenging Homophobia Training Kit (originally developed in South Australia); Affirming Diversity: An Educational Resource on Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Orientations (originally developed in Auckland, New Zealand) and Out With Homophobia (originally developed in Queensland). As well as these kits, extended surfing of the Internet has offered a few more exercises that have been adapted (with acknowledgment) for this training. With this revision, both updating the training (from when we worked on Block Out) and ruralising it, we have attempted to be a bit more user friendly with the exercises. We have offered the session guidelines only as examples. The course is set up to reflect the needs of your group, and to offer you a range of exercises that you as facilitator can feel comfortable using. With the development of more exercises there is more possibility to juggle the exercises within the sessions. What you need to do is find a balance not just of content (too much theory and people fall asleep, not enough and they leave feeling as though they learnt nothing new) but of style. Cut and paste from these pages for yourself. Experiment with different exercises with different sessions. How can you offset a sit-down theory bit with a small group interactive exercise? Can you follow lunch with a quick energiser? The Training Menu When you re working from this manual, as well as balancing content, see if you can work from the following breakdown for your training. Very little of the exercises should be thought to be compulsory apart from the following: There must be a warm up activity in each training There must be an opening round in each training, to touch base There must be a break in each training, preferably at just a little over half way There must be a closing round in each training as a sort of debriefing and evaluation The group agreements should be covered early in the training and briefly revisited when appropriate The outline of the course should be covered near the beginning of the training some people won t feel safe unless they have even a vague idea of what they re in for. The following balance is to be strongly considered as a minimum. We ve included a small note as to why. Something from The Intro Bit : This is largely covered above. Some of the people in the group may not have met, some may never have worked in a group before. Or you may have a group that works together all the time who have never looked at this subject. The intro is as much about beginning to create a safety for the subject as it is about introducing the topic. Something from The Theory Bit : This subject rarely comes up in other forums in such a way as provide good, clear information. To not offer theory that explains how homophobia works and impacts is not only a bad thing it ignores that some participants, uncomfortable with touchy/feely stuff, may only digest that which they consider grounded in facts. Something from The Feeling Bit : People may actually have the resources to go hunting in their library or on the Internet for material on this subject. What they Part 2 Using this kit Style & Content of this Training 15

18 Part 2 Using this kit Style & Content of this Training won t get outside of your workshop are the opportunities to emotionally process some kind of journey and self-evaluate, with others, how they feel about this subject. A balance obviously has to be struck here as it s rare for a group facilitator to be a qualified counsellor nor is it smart thinking for the whole group if one or two people get emotionally bogged down. Something from The Strategic Bit : For some this may be very important a practical thing that they can take back to their place of work. For others it may be impossible to consider penetrating their workplace environment with these as important issues. Inevitably, suggesting some of the strategic thinking is going to cancel out the paralysed thinking and feeling that people usually associate with this topic. Something from The Closing Bit : This is as obvious as having something from the introduction and yet so many facilitators under-rate the importance of good closure. It may also provide you with very useful feedback if you re going to be running this training again. Adult learning This training utilises processes of adult learning, some of the features of which are: Participants are involved in a purposeful exploration of particular knowledge or skills, or in reflecting collectively on their shared experiences. Learning takes place in a group setting. The overall learning process depends on the experiences, skills and knowledge each participant brings. These qualities will affect how new information is interpreted and absorbed. Participants personal qualities can provide the group with valuable learning opportunities. Group members must develop ground rules to ensure respectful communication. The teaching-learning process is based on a continual negotiation of goals, learning methods and evaluation strategies. Adult learning can happen anywhere - not just in a university or formal training. Key principles for effective adult learning include there must be mutual respect amongst participants facilitation must be collaborative learning must involve action and reflection facilitators must aim to encourage adults to adopt a socially critical perspective facilitation needs to foster the self-direction and empowerment of adults. Educators must use their power to help learners experience power 4. The difficulty is that most people s experience of education leaves them cringing when they have a sense they re being educated. This has to be balanced against the reality that we are attempting to enable learning among our participants we want them to share information with each other, learn new things (even about themselves) while doing this course and finish it with an improved understanding of themselves and relationships. We want to do all of this whilst trying to avoid the feeling of teaching. Rules of thumb around exercises Most of us understand the basic rules of thumb around the types of exercises offered here. In the early stages of a group being together, people usually don t know each other very well and need to feel more comfortable talking with others in the group before any major disclosure is going to be possible. Given that this training is about a sensitive topic for many, open and honest communication within the group is crucial to its success. Early in the piece, communication is easier on a one-to-one level; paired exercises work well. The appendix contains a quick guide we 16 4 The sources for these points are S D Brookfield (1986), Understanding and facilitating adult learning (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass) and G Foley (1995), Teaching adults in G Foley (ed.) Understanding adult education and training (pp ) (Sydney: Allen & Unwin). Thanks to Iain Butterworth for the summary.

19 developed to the pros and cons of types of exercises. It s by no means exhaustive, but handy when you re thinking about what might work with a group. Before you run the exercises It is advised that if you re going to run the exercises actually read through them first. This may seem obvious, but a lot of trainers, especially confident ones, skip this part. Familiarise yourselves with the words; alter them to language you are more comfortable using if it helps. Using our special P plan for layout of the exercises (see Pro-forma exercise sheet for a sample) each exercise is formatted to show you what you ll need for it. This starts with the Procedure, which is the title of the exercise, followed closely by the time it will take (usually). The Purpose explains the objective of the exercise, whilst the Prepare title gives you a list of items to have ready for the exercise. Process gives a simple step by step summary of what you ll need to do and what you need to direct the participants to do. Patter provides a guide of the main points that you can make. These are presented either as direct quotes, so that you can read them out as is, or in dot point form, so that you know the main information (or additional points) to raise, enabling you to put it in their own words. Pointers offer hot tips for you as facilitator(s), based on our past experience of running these exercises with groups. These especially are worth reading prior to running an exercise as they comment upon possible snags or hiccups. Each exercise reproduces the worksheets needed for it immediately following. We ve also provided a mock-up outline for a day length workshop and a blank one for you to copy and fill out. Above all, it pays to think through the concepts and ideas, particularly your own feelings around the issues, before running the group. If co-facilitating, chat about the topics raised, separate to the exercises being run. It s likely that some of them will provoke lively discussion. This document will hopefully remain a dynamic one (if that isn t a contradiction) with the end goal of having a selection of exercises from which you can choose to create your own structures, reflecting group needs. Kenton and Mahamati Kenton (as Kenton Penley) has drawn the illustrations. All are available free for reproduction and re-use (with acknowledgment) compliments of the cartoonist and Outlink. Part 2 Using this kit Style & Content of this Training 17

20 Pro-Forma Exercise Sheet Each exercise will provide you with these features: Title of exercise (Time: Minutes) Players: Purpose: Prepare: Size of group. Objective of exercise. What s needed for this exercise. Process: A simple step by step summary of what the facilitators need to do and what they need to direct the participants to do. Patter: A guide of the main points that the facilitator(s) can make: These are presented either as direct quotes such as these here, so the facilitator can read them out as is. Or in dot point form, so that the facilitator knows the main information (or additional points) to raise, enabling them to put it in their own words. Part 2 Using this kit Style & Content of this Training Pointers: Hot tips for the facilitator(s), based on past experience of running these exercises with groups, often covering likely questions, or even difficulties, with suggested ways of countering these. Reading these prior to running the exercise will equip the facilitator(s) better in their work. Point of origin: Source of the exercise or material adapted 18

23 Part 3 The Exercises The Opening Bit Opening round Group agreements Outline of training Gay in the city, Gay in the country Mapping activities (20 minutes) (10 minutes) (15 minutes) (20 minutes) (20 minutes) Part 3 The Exercises The Opening Bit 21

24 Procedure: Opening round (20 Minutes) Players: Purpose: Prepare: Large group. For participants to meet one another and share goals. Participants sitting in a circle. Large sheet of paper for the Hopes and Expectations to be written on. Marker or textas. Process: Facilitators introduce themselves, welcome participants to the training and explain that in a moment they ll explain more about the course. Have a round with each of the participants saying their name, a little about themselves and at least two hopes and expectations they have of the training. These are written on a sheet of paper by a facilitator for referral to later in the Outline of training exercise. Identify in the group who knows whom and in what context. Each person states, if they know somebody else, in what context they know the person/s. Patter: Remember to introduce yourself. It s sometimes useful to conclude the round of everyone s hopes and expectations with a light remark like: Well, you ve all come to the right place then Part 3 The Exercises The Opening Bit Opening round Pointers: Be careful that this doesn t set up a situation of exclusion if people do know one or two others in the group (ie. the feeling that cliques are already there). It s useful for you, as facilitators, to see where people do know each other, so that you can encourage them to work with people they don t know, to begin with. Adapted from Victorian AIDS Council/Gay Men s Health Centre s Relationships course by Kenton Miller 22

25 Procedure: Group agreements (10 Minutes) Players: Purpose: Prepare: Large group. To create a safer environment for disclosure. Butcher s paper. Process: Ask participants for points that would help them safe enough to disclose and contribute freely in the group. Write the responses down on a sheet of butcher s paper, clarifying that all in the group agree to the suggestions. The list might include: Time: Please be punctual so that we can start and finish on time. Confidentiality: To develop support and trust, what s said in the group should stay in the group. The right to pass: If you don t want to be involved in any activity just say pass. Everyone has the right to pass. Differing opinions: Please respect the right of each other to have differing opinions I statements: Please make I statements: that is I feel..., I consider..., I think... etc. All sessions: Please come to all sessions. Housekeeping/domestic (Any smokers in the group? How often do we need to break? Toilets?) Welcome questions and discussion. Point out that this list will be up on the wall each week, where it can be added or referred to at any time. Patter: Pointers: Explain that: The goal is to create an environment where people can speak freely about matters that may be close to the heart. Trust is obviously something that may build over time, but by setting up group agreements, we can hasten the feeling of safety in the group. These are agreements, not rules - by all setting them, we are all agreeing to abide by them It might help you to recall a time when you might have been in a group beforehand. This could have been a peer education group, a circle of friends or a place of employment. What was it that made you feel safe in the group? What would they like to have in this group to replicate that feeling of safety?. Try as hard as you can to elicit responses from the group before offering your own suggestions. Make sure yours are suggestions, and that the group agrees to them before you write them up. Be sure to use the exact words somebody offers, or to check with them if you have a clearer way of saying it If somebody suggests Privacy. That s important to me. don t say I know what you mean, we ll write that up as confidential. And should confidentiality arise (as it often does), make sure there s a discussion about it, so that there s a shared understanding before the word is written. Adapted from Victorian AIDS Council/Gay Men s Health Centre s Relationships course by Kenton Miller Part 3 The Exercises The Opening Bit Group agreements 23

26 Procedure: Outline of training (15 Minutes) Players: Purpose: Prepare: Large group. To create an understanding of the training content, and to match it to participants needs and expectations. Whiteboard & markers. Previous notes from the whiteboard on participant s hopes and expectations for the training. Outline of course on paper. Process: Using either a series of overheads that back up the narrative, or large sheets of paper that carry the same information, the facilitator explains that we are going to briefly examine what s ahead for us all in the training. The facilitator explains the training session, with allusions to the main purpose of each of the key exercises chosen. The facilitator compares this course outline with the hopes and expectations listed in Introductions & Welcome. Inevitably, the course will meet some of the expectations, and it s up to the facilitator to reinforce this recognition. Any hopes or expectations not met by the current outline can be added, depending on how flexible and confident the trainer feels. Patter: Present an outline (as you ve developed it) based on your running sheet. Part 3 The Exercises The Opening Bit Outline of training Pointers: You may want to refer to the concept of theory bit, feeling bit and strategic bit to explain the balance of exercises. By reinforcing the course s connection to the participants hopes and expectations, there s a better sense that this course is going to meet people s needs. Being prepared to be adaptable to their stuff ensures a stronger sense of ownership of the course. Adapted from Victorian AIDS Council/Gay Men s Health Centre s Relationships course by Kenton Miller 24

27 Procedure: Gay in the city, Gay in the country (20 Minutes) Players: Purpose: Prepare: Enough for two small groups, or more of the same. To enable participants to focus on positives and negatives of gay, lesbian, bisexual peoples choice of place to live. Butcher s paper and pens, (one person to scribe group ideas and to present back to large group). Process: Participants are divided into two sections. Facilitators ask them to list positive and negatives of city or country living depending on the group they are in, and bring back to larger group. Return to the large group and report back. Patter: City living Examples: Positives Access to clubs Anonymity Freedom to be self More friends from other places Exposure to gay culture Attend coming out or support groups Better book shops and libraries about gay culture. Better access to safer sex means Wear what you want to wear Feel less isolated Negatives Lonely Not fit in with fashion plate gay culture Not enough money on apprenticeship to party Gap in gay knowledge Fearful of accessing services Miss family and old friends Lack of space and nature So much noise and hassle Country living Positives: Near old friends Close to family and around for significant occasions Able to get out into nature, ride horse, access to family car Known by everyone More peaceful continued next page Part 3 The Exercises The Opening Bit Gay in the city, Gay in the country 25

28 Negatives: Risk in being openly gay, may lose old friends if out May lose family if out Nowhere to meet other young men Beat culture risky with police and bashers Can t get gay books out of library because librarian knows Mum Afraid to get sexual health info from local Doctor who has known me since born Few sexual opportunities Pointers: A simple exercise to enable participants to appreciate the pros and cons of city and country living and not assume every young gay person wants to get out of town to the city life. You could ask the participants how much of these lists hold true for them (eg. Is it any different for heterosexual people living in the country? Why should lesbian and gay people miss out on the perks of country living then, just because of their sexuality? ) Developed by Mahamati for Don t Let the Turkeys Get you Down, workshop on Internalised Homophobia. Part 3 The Exercises The Opening Bit Gay in the city, Gay in the country 26

29 How to tell them apart: City Rural Part 3 The Exercises The Opening Bit Gay in the city, Gay in the country 27

30 Procedure: Mapping activities (20 Minutes) Players: Purpose: Prepare: Large group/individuals. To energise the group and start off discussion. For participants to get to know one another. Large cleared space in the room. Process: Ask participants to stand up. Introduce a particular point or scale. Have participants arrange themselves in relation to that particular point or scale. The following lists some of the ways we have used this activity - either as an icebreaker/getting to know you or for a particular topic of discussion. Social map Explain that some participants may know one another from before the group and may interact with each other in particular ways. This exercise serves to inform others of that previous acquaintance which may help in understanding why they interact with each other in such and such a way. Have each participant touch the person(s) who they know before the group. Spatial map Part 3 The Exercises The Opening Bit Mapping activities Patter: Designate a point in the room as wherever you are in Australia. Have participants arrange themselves according to where they live in relation to that point. Encourage members to discuss amongst themselves to work out where they are placed in relation to the reference point. You may want to use the whiteboard, drawing up HERE as a central X and getting people to draw up where they are (North, South, East or West of this point) in terms of either kilometres (ie. 70 kms. North) or time/distance away (ie. 1 hour Southeast). With the social map explain that the group is for everyone and that it is hoped that at the end of the training everyone will be included within the circle. continued next page 28

31 Pointers: With the social map ensure that if there is a minority of members who stand alone, that they do not feel isolated. If people feel uncomfortable touching, ask them just to tell the rest of the group where they know others. The spatial map is a good opportunity for you to demonstrate that you will speak in the participants terms (eg. If they use distance, go with that. If they use time, go with that). Members of the group chould still be quite nervous and shy. This exercise gets people to move around in the room and aims to release some of their tensions. Use your discretion. Take whatever opportunity presents itself to generate laughter and light heartedness. You could use some of the information you have gained through observing where and how people place themselves to flesh out later discussion. Adapted from Victorian AIDS Council/Gay Men s Health Centre s Gay Asian Proud by Robbie Guevara & David Voon Part 3 The Exercises The Opening Bit Mapping activities 29

34 Procedure: Name games (5 Minutes) Players: Purpose: Prepare: Large group. To introduce participants and familiarise them with each other s names. A large circle of chairs. Process: Have the group sit in a circle. The person to start, introduces himself. For example, My name is Ted. The next person introduces the person before and then himself (eg. This is Ted and I am Bill ). The third person names the previous two and then introduces himself and so on, until the entire circle has been introduced. Or The person to start, introduces himself. For example, My name is Ted. The next person introduces the person before and then himself (eg. This is Ted and I am Bill ). The third person names the previous two and then introduces himself and so on, until the entire circle has been introduced. Now, add on other factors to the name, (eg. a word that rhymes with the name; a word that starts with the same letter, a tree, flower or fruit or an adjective that describes how you feel). Patter: Just a general introduction of the game rules. Part 3 The Exercises The Warm-up Bit Name games Pointers: You may have to go over the rules once or twice. Try reversing the order, so that the person with the most names to remember becomes the person with the least. Facilitators may have to help out with names that are difficult to pronounce. Adapted from Victorian AIDS Council/Gay Men s Health Centre s Momentum course 32

35 Procedure: Getting to know you (10 Minutes) Players: Purpose: Prepare: Large group. For participants to meet one another and to begin to establish dialogue. Getting to know one another handouts (Jigsaw sheets). Process: As people arrive offer them tea/coffee and other refreshments. When there are sufficient numbers pair people up and give them the Find someone who handout. After 2 to 3 minutes call time and ask participants to swap over to someone else and discuss another topic. Patter: As well as introducing yourself, you may want to cover the following information: It s sometimes useful to conclude the round of everyone s hopes and expectations with a light remark like: Well, you ve all come to the right place then Pointers: Having a list of possible attendees waiting by the door, with name tags, and ticking people off as they come in is a way of ensuring you know how close you are to reaching your desired number of participants.. This exercise works equally well with the Find Someone Who... handout. Adapted from Victorian AIDS Council/Gay Men s Health Centre s Relationships course by Kenton Miller Part 3 The Exercises The Warm-up Bit Getting to know you 33

36 Greetings Sheet handout

37 Procedure: Three truths, One lie (15 Minutes) Players: Purpose: Prepare: Small group. For participants to reconnect and energise. The room set up with a circle of chairs, minus one chair. Process: Pass out small pieces of paper. Ask participants to write four things about themselves, one of which isn t true. These things are to be in no particular order. They will be sharing them in small groups in a moment. Reassure people that the goal of this exercise is simply to find out who the good liars in the group are. Once in their groups, people will be reading out the four things about themselves. Once everyone has done this, people will quiz one person at a time, in the hope of finding out which of the things is a lie. Questions must be indirect. You cannot ask: So, is this true? But if someone has written about their partner, he could be asked about how long they ve been together, how they met, if the person s family have met the partner and so forth. Everyone must have a turn, so try to take only about three to four minutes on each person. At the end of the questions, everyone makes their guess, then the person being questioned reveals their lie. Patter: Pointers: When you gather everyone back into the group ask how it went. Was it easy to work out the truth? Was it easy to write your own truth, or was it easier to come up with a lie? This exercise goes more smoothly if you offer your own example first. Such as: 1. I own a Volkswagen 2. I m a Scorpio 3. I used to be in the Prisoner s Action Group 4. As well as men, I ve had a few women lovers. You might want to follow through with examples of questions people might ask around your own examples. Then explain which of the examples is the lie. You could also use this as an introduction to the subject of coming out. Something along the lines of: Each of us, at different times, tell little lies to different people. Or we edit what it is we have to say. Especially when we don t think they can handle the truth. Tonight we ll look at variations of how much we choose to reveal of ourselves to others. Adapted from Block Out/Challenging Homophobia Education Training Manual by Kenton Penley Miller & Mahamati. The Second Story Youth Health Service and Youth Sector Training Council developed this training package in South Australia, Part 3 The Exercises The Warm-up Bit Three truths, One lie 35

38 Procedure: Stretching (10 Minutes) Players: Purpose: Prepare: Large group. To loosen the physical dynamics in the group. A large space. Relaxing music. Process: Get the group to stand (or at least sit comfortably if unable to stand) With or without music, participants are to follow the leader, in a systematic stretch of the joints of the body. Start rotating the ankles, knees, hips, wrists, elbows, shoulders, diaphragm, neck and head. End with a good shake. Patter: This is just to loosen us up or This is to give us a bit of energy because we ve been sitting down for so long. Pointers: It helps if the facilitator knows some little about stretching (ie. What s physically not harmful for the body); the exercise does not have to be rigorous, merely loosening. Adapted from Victorian AIDS Council/Gay Men s Health Centre s Momentum course Part 3 The Exercises The Warm-up Bit Stretching 36

39 Procedure: Human knots (10 Minutes) Players: Purpose: Prepare: Large group. To loosen the physical dynamics in the group & create a sense of fun. To encourage negotiation between participants. A large cleared space. Process: Everyone crosses their wrists with their arms extended and grasps the hands of two other people opposite them. No individual should be holding both hands of the same person. Without letting go of hands, the group then disentangles itself, resulting in an untangled circle with arms uncrossed but still holding hands. Patter: Just introduce the exercise. Pointers: Facilitators should decide if they want to be included in the group and this exercise or if their energies will be best spent being able to move around and assist others in negotiating their way out of the knot. Adapted from Victorian AIDS Council/Gay Men s Health Centre s Momentum course Part 3 The Exercises The Warm-up Bit Human knots 37

40 Procedure: Drawings (15 Minutes) Players: Purpose: Prepare: Large group/individuals. To introduce discussion around a particular topic. Large pieces of paper. Coloured pens and/or markers. Process: Get individuals in the group to draw pictures around a specific topic you d like to cover. For example you may want to do a drawing of the family, to introduce discussion around our families and how being gay impacts upon our relationship with them. Think about other things that people may draw as a start to discussing certain topics or issues on the agenda. Drawings may also be used as a starting point for discussion for those who may not be fluent in English or who may find it difficult to express themselves. The drawing the quality of it - can help you and others to understand what each person thinks or feels, and reflecting your impressions can be a way to ask questions to engage the participant. Patter: This is not about who can draw well and who can t. You ll get to explain what your drawings mean to the rest of us, so it doesn t have to be a work of art Pointers: This can sometimes break away from people s fears of having to express themselves with words. Very useful with culturally diverse groups. Part 3 The Exercises The Warm-up Bit Drawings Adapted from Victorian AIDS Council/Gay Men s Health Centre s Gay Asian Proud by Robbie Guevara & David Voon 38

41 Procedure: This is a what? (10 Minutes) Players: Purpose: Prepare: Large group. To create a fun and safe context to talk about different issues. Dildos. Condoms. Lubricants. Other things you may want to include in a sexual encounter. Process: Explain to participants that we are now going to play a game. Distribute dildos and other paraphernalia to participants. Person A passes the dildo to Person B, saying: This is a (word assigned) (ie. This is a dildo ). Person B says: A what?. Person A replies by repeating the word (ie. A dildo ). Person B says: A what? Person A repeats word. Person B says: Oh and the dildo (or other object) is passed from A to B. Person B turns to Person C and repeats the procedure. When Person C asks Person B, Person B asks Person A in turn, who replies to B who then replies to C. The object of the game is to do the full round whilst keeping the rhythm of responses without losing track of the words. Patter: Pointers: Introduce the game. Do a couple of test runs before either increasing the pace, or introducing a new object from the other direction (ie. This is a tube of lube ). Adapted from Victorian AIDS Council/Gay Men s Health Centre s Gay Asian Proud by Robbie Guevara & David Voon Part 3 The Exercises The Warm-up Bit This is a what? 39

42 Procedure: Line up (10 Minutes) Players: Purpose: Prepare: Large group. For participants to reconnect and energise. Large clear space. Process: When there are sufficient numbers the facilitator should begin the exercise/game. Ask people to organise themselves in a line-up, going from one end of the room to the other. Ask people to line up according to their height (small at one end, tall at the other). Ask people to line up according to the month they were born in (from January at one end to December at the other). Ask people to line up according to their shoe size (small at one end, large at the other). Ask people to line up according to their star signs (Aquarian at one end, Capricorn at the other). Patter: Introduce the game. Pointers: The last is a trick question (it s basically replicating the exact same order as the birthdays). Be aware that for some, issues may present around age or size. Part 3 The Exercises The Warm-up Bit Line up Adapted from Victorian AIDS Council/Gay Men s Health Centre s Relationships course by Kenton Miller 40

43 Procedure: Musical chairs (15 Minutes) Players: Purpose: Prepare: Large group. For participants to reconnect and energise. The room set up with a circle of chairs, minus one chair. Process: Explain to participants that we are now going to play a game. Outline the rules. The person who stands in the centre of the circle says something that is true for him (ie. Everyone who s wearing black shoes or Everyone who watched TV last night ), and everyone else for whom this is true runs to swap chairs (or walks, depending on people s abilities). People are not allowed to take the chair either side of them. Nor can they return to their own seat. An easy way to end it is for one of the facilitators to end up in the middle and ask Everyone who feels like ending this game now (NB: this doesn t always work if they re enjoying themselves). Finish with people sitting in a large group format. Patter: Introduce the game. Pointers: The game can be used to increase people s level of disclosure if facilitators (who participate) up the ante a bit (ie, Everyone who has had sex in the last week, Everyone who has had a threesome or more-some, etc). This game warms people up, gets them moving, and gets people engaged. It s best to prepare a few scenarios before hand, as this works best with leading by example. Adapted from Victorian AIDS Council/Gay Men s Health Centre s Relationships course by Kenton Miller Part 3 The Exercises The Warm-up Bit Musical chairs 41

44 Procedure: Mood sheets (10 Minutes) Players: Purpose: Prepare: Individuals/large group. For participants to reconnect and reflect on how they re feeling. Mood sheets. Pens, textas. Process: As people arrive offer them tea/coffee and other refreshments. When there are sufficient numbers the facilitator should begin the exercise/game. Pass out the mood sheets to participants and a pen or texta to use. Ask participants to circle two of the figures in the drawing: One that reflects how they re feeling at the moment and another that reflects where they see themselves as they re going to be. Do a round where people speak to the ones they ve circled, with a couple of words explaining why. Patter: Introduce the game. Pointers: This exercise works well later in a session, such as after a break. People know enough about the other participants that the level of disclosure can be interesting and further revealing. Part 3 The Exercises The Warm-up Bit Mood Sheets There is still the right to pass (presuming this was asked for in the Group agreements ) but most participants, by this stage, are eager to share with others. Note the drawings attempt to be gender neutral. If anyone comments there are no girls, point out there are none wearing skirts or dresses. Adapted from Victorian AIDS Council/Gay Men s Health Centre s Relationships course by Kenton Miller 42

48 Procedure: Exploring sexual orientation (15 Minutes) Players: Purpose: Prepare: Large group/brainstorm. To expose the negative social environment that exists towards lesbians and gay men and to consider the consequences for lesbian and gay youth growing up in this social climate. A whiteboard and markers or larger sheets of paper and pens. Process: The facilitator introduces this topic (see Patter) by announcing that the task is to take a look at this negative social environment by looking at the words people associate with the terms lesbian and gay. Make two columns with the headings Gay and Lesbian. Ask participants to brainstorm by calling out any words they ve heard people associate with the word gay. Explain that in brainstorming the aim is to get as many words as possible on the board without any discussion. You may like to prompt them by asking a few questions such as What do gays look like? What jobs do they do? How do they act? What about positive words? After you have words, repeat this process for words they associate with lesbian. Part 3 The Exercises The Theory Bit Exploring sexual orientation Begin by asking it there are any positive words on the board you may have occupations listed like actor, interior designer and ballet dancer cited as positive (or truck driver for lesbians). Talk about how these associations may not be negative but they are still stereotypes. Gay men and lesbians work in all occupations. Plenty of gay men play rugby and work as plumbers, businessmen and bricklayers and lesbians are working as secretaries, doctors, factory workers and so on. Circle any positive words. (You are unlikely to get many in either list). Underline any words that may in some way be positive or is a stereotype. Talk about how young gays and lesbians grow up through this climate or extreme negativity and how this impacts on their feelings and themselves. Tell the participants you are going to rub everything but the completely positive words off the board. Usually there are almost no words left except the headings. This impresses upon the participants just how hard it is for young lesbians and gays and how unfair it is that they have to live in such a negative environment. Patter: Begin by saying Just as the temperature and the weather in New Zealand give us a particular physical climate, so the attitudes and beliefs people hold give us a certain social climate. When it rains and we re outside, we all get wet whether we like it or not. Similarly we are all affected by the social climate in which we live. We take on ideas that we may not consciously choose, but because they are part of the climate we don t ever examine them or think about their implications. Try to get people to open up with: These may not be words you use but you ve heard other people use. continued next page 46

49 Pointers: Make sure you record everyone s contribution whether you approve of it or not. Participants may call words out too fast for you to write so say you think you missed some so people can repeat their words and have their contribution acknowledged by being written up. Some participants may need a bit of encouragement to use the slang and very abusive and negative words that always come forward in this activity. Give permission by talking about your own life and the negative impressions you gained about lesbians and gay men e.g. All I heard about was that homosexuals molest little boys and if an older school teacher was a Miss then she must be a lezzie. It is also important to declare your stance before beginning the brainstorm by saying that we live in an overwhelmingly negative social environment that is based largely on myths and misinformation. This is a message to gays and lesbians in the class that you support them. Dyke may be cited as a positive word. Point out that some lesbians do call each other dykes but that when heterosexuals use this word it s mostly in a negative way. Adapted from Affirming Diversity - An Educational Resource on Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Orientations by Sally Liggins, Annemarie Wille, Shaun Hawthorne and Leigh Rampton (1994, Auckland Education Unit, New Zealand Family Planning Association) Part 3 The Exercises The Theory Bit Exploring sexual orientation 47

50 Procedure: Definition of homophobia (20 Minutes) Players: Purpose: Prepare: Small groups. To enable the group to understand a variety of terms associated with homophobia. To enable the group to canvass the issues that comprise a definition of homophobia. Paper and pens. Whiteboard and Whiteboard markers. Blu-tac. Other definitions of homophobia (optional). Process: Place other relevant definitions around the room with blu-tac. Ask the participants to think about what homophobia actually is. It may be simpler if people are prepared to come up with an incident they suspect or know may be homophobic. Break the participants into smaller groups for a quick discussion for a definition of homophobia. Canvas the issues or key points with the participants, encouraging them to think in terms of a dominant culture analysis (ie. How society supports people to be homophobic) rather than just focussing on individual homophobia and inducing either guilt, or denial of complicity (ie. But I m not like that! ). Part 3 The Exercises The Theory Bit Definition of homophobia Patter: Pointers: People share their individual material, and come up with a group definition. Warn these groups that a representative will have to present these definitions. Return to the large group. A representative from each group offers their group s definition. Write these up on the board. From these varied definitions you may want to synthesise a simple single definition. Explain that further exercises will explore the things that constitute a fuller definition of homophobia. If there is a need to derive a definition from this process, we offer this: Homophobia: The fear and hatred of those who love and sexually desire those of the same sex. Homophobia, which has some of its roots in sexism, includes prejudice, discrimination, harassment, and acts of violence brought on by fear and hatred. Be very clear that a final decision does not have to be reached, indeed it is unlikely that a definition that pleases everybody and takes into account all aspects of homophobia can be developed in such a short time. You might want to explain that some people do have problems with the actual word homophobia, mostly for one of these three reasons: 1) It suggests that it s a phobia, an irrational but understandable fear, like arachnophobia is for spiders. Homophobia sounds like it s not really the person s fault. 2) In describing a personal fear, it doesn t explain the broader ways in which homophobia can pervade institutions, legislation, cultures, etc. continued next page 48

51 3) By using homo in its definition, it seems to put the problem back to the gay and lesbian people. If we didn t have them then we wouldn t have the problem. Finish this by saying: For now we re going to utilise homophobia as a definition, but increase our understanding of what that term means. Adapted from Block Out/Challenging Homophobia Education Training Manual by Kenton Penley Miller & Mahamati. The Second Story Youth Health Service and Youth Sector Training Council developed this training package in South Australia, One possible definition: Homophobia Homophobia: The fear and hatred of those who love and sexually desire those of the same sex. Homophobia, which has some of its roots in sexism, includes prejudice, discrimination, harassment, and acts of violence brought on by fear and hatred. Some people feel it s not very effective as a term. Some of their reasons are: 1) It suggests that it s a phobia, an irrational but understandable fear, like arachnophobia is for spiders. Homophobia sounds like it s not really the person s fault. 2) In describing a personal fear, it doesn t explain the broader ways in which anti-gay stuff makes itself felt (ie. in laws etc). 3) By using homo in its definition, it seems to put the problem back to the gay and lesbian people. If we didn t have them then we wouldn t have the problem. Some alternative terms might be: Heterosexism: The belief in the inherent superiority of one pattern of loving and thereby it s right to dominance (Audre Lorde). A set of assumptions that empower heterosexual persons especially heterosexual white males, and exclude openly homosexual persons from social, religious, and political power. It is a system of coercion that demands heterosexuality in return for first class citizenship (Virginia Mollenkott). Prejudice or discrimination against gay people, analogous to racism... the assumption of heterosexual superiority (Liberation as a movement of ideas). Heterocentrism: The assumption (often unconscious) that heterosexuality is the norm by which everything else is measured. Differs from heterosexism in that it s often less overt, yet more insidious. Erasure: The process by which homosexuality is denied or ignored in historical and current record taking and reporting. For example, not mentioning the homosexuality of Leonardo Da Vinci, Peter the Great, Genghis Khan, Beethoven or Shakespeare; not asking questions in the census to highlight some sex relationships; not mentioning gay people s sexuality in positive articles, only when we re accused of crimes, or are seen as victims. Part 3 The Exercises The Theory Bit Definition of homophobia 49

52 Procedure: Defining homophobia (20 Minutes) Players: Purpose: Prepare: Large group. To enable the group to understand a variety of terms and issues associated with homophobia. Whiteboard and whiteboard markers (optional). Process: Read out (or deliver in a chattier style) the information contained below in the Patter. Ask the following questions of the group to engage them in discussion around these points. Think of an example of heterosexism that is commonly communicated to us through our social environment. How do you know the idea is an example of heterosexism? Does it support a negative generalisation about lesbian/gay/bisexual people? From what kind of source is this particular idea usually communicated? (News media? Neighbourhood attitudes? Local laws? Other ways?) Patter: Homophobia, generally, is a negative attitude or feeling based on a misleading generalised belief about lesbian, gay, and bisexual people. What is homophobia specifically? How do we know when a remark is homophobic, or a television sketch, or an employment policy? Part 3 The Exercises The Theory Bit Defining homophobia First, who are the targets of homophobia? Lesbian, gay, and bisexual people. People who have an affectional and/or erotic attraction and/or commitment to members of their own sex. Women loving women. Men loving men. Next, we have to look at the premise of homophobia, which is heterosexism. Heterosexism is the attitude that heterosexuality is inherently better then homosexuality. Often people who consciously oppose homophobia actually hold heterosexist attitudes, themselves. For example, the question When did you first decide to be gay? demonstrates ignorance about sexual orientation. (Much research has been conducted but, to date, little has been conclusively proven about how sexual orientation is determined.) And it does so from a heterosexist perspective because it assumes that to be different from heterosexual requires a conscious choice. The heterosexist assumption is that you don t have to do anything to be heterosexual, but you have to decide to be homosexual. Heterosexuality is considered the default. A common example of this assumption is the expectation that someone is heterosexual unless they specifically indicate that their sexual orientation is otherwise. Sometimes people speculate that the reason a person is lesbian or gay is because of a bad heterosexual experience. Who ever speculates that someone is heterosexual because of a bad homosexual experience? If you re not sure something is heterosexist turn it on its head that way and see how absurd it is. continued next page 50

53 If you see homosexuality and heterosexuality in a hierarchical way, with one being somehow better than the other, then you might go along with arguments against legal recognition of same-sex couples relationships. You might say, I don t care if you re gay so long as you keep it in the bedroom. (Try, I don t mind heterosexuals, so long as they keep it in the bedroom. ) Even though these people may think they re not homophobic, they re telling lesbian, gay, and bisexual people to disappear. Another problematic aspect of heterosexism is the polarisation of sexuality. It s the old divide and conquer strategy of prejudice. Instead of recognising the fluidity of sexual orientation, heterosexism divides people into two camps : Heterosexual and Not Heterosexual. Alfred Kinsey s research is usually cited as the basis for the estimation that about 10% of the population is lesbian or gay. What is not so frequently discussed is the fact that this research revealed that nearly half of the adult population engages in both heterosexual and homosexual behaviour. So long as there is only one right way to be, only one normal sexuality any other way (however tolerant you may be) is not really quite as legitimate; is just a phase, just experimenting ; lesbian and gay families aren t r-e-a-l-l-y families if your primary point of reference is heterosexuality. Thus, heterosexism prepares the foundation for prejudice against lesbian/gay/ bisexual people. This is where homophobia begins. Pointers: Not everyone responds well to being talked at or lectured. However, for those who do, this covers some basic concepts fairly quickly. Make sure you ve pre-read this before presenting and that you ve considered questions that may come up. Adapted from Challenging Homophobia: Online Workshop Copyright Cait Downing, San Francisco. All rights reserved. Part 3 The Exercises The Theory Bit Defining homophobia 51

54 Procedure: Homophobia in action (20 Minutes) Players: Purpose: Prepare: Large group. To enable the group to understand a variety of issues and actions associated with homophobia. Whiteboard and whiteboard markers (optional). Or use Allport s model of acting out prejudice handout. Process: Read out (or deliver in a chattier style) the information contained below in the Patter ). Ask the following questions of the group to engage them in discussion around these points. Questions To Discuss: Can you think of an example of heterosexism that is commonly communicated to us through our social environment? How do you know the idea is an example of heterosexism? Does it support a negative generalisation about lesbian/gay/bisexual people? From what kind of source is this particular idea usually communicated? (News media? Neighbourhood attitudes? Local laws? Other ways?) Patter: There is a wide range of ways homophobia can materialise. Allport, in his study on prejudice, developed a model that shows five degrees of prejudiced action. Part 3 The Exercises The Theory Bit Homophobia in action The importance of this model is that it shows the relationships among different types of prejudiced acts. It shows a progression that has been acted out repeatedly, throughout history. It shows how one type of action prepares the way for the next. Acting Out Prejudice: Allport defined five ways that prejudice can be expressed or acted upon. These five types of prejudiced action are : 1. Antilocution (name calling, stereotyping). 2. Avoidance (defamation by omission, exclusion). 3. Discrimination (refusal of service, denial of opportunity). 4. Physical Attack (threat of physical violence, murder). 5. Extermination (mass assassination, genocide). This model represents a range of behaviour from verbal abuse to physical violence and genocide. And within each level there is a range of behaviours. Antilocution begins with simple name-calling, develops into stereotyping, then with defamation by omission, makes the transition to the next level of Allport s scale, avoidance. First, the targeted person is misrepresented, as a member of the targeted class. Later, with defamation by omission, the target is prevented from any representation at all. The unknown is more frightening and easier to make things up about. continued next page 52

55 The patterns of name-calling, stereotyping and omission extend to social avoidance from the attitude of the high school student disowning her friend upon discovering that she is a lesbian to the unofficial organisational proclamation, We don t have people like that in our club. With this transition, avoidance becomes discrimination. Avoidance and discrimination only extend so far. These tactics can keep targeted individuals from entering the agent s group, but it doesn t make them go away completely. One isolated group can still bump up against another. The intolerance that feeds the efforts at exclusion can also feed efforts at intimidation with the intent of pushing the entire targeted group away. This is when discrimination intensifies into physical attack. Beginning with the threat of violence, this level of prejudiced action escalates easily from isolated spontaneous incidents into group behaviour. And once you ve got groups acting out their prejudice with physical violence, the way is prepared for directing that energy methodically, in the name of war, or some delusive ideology. Then you have reached the threshold of Allport s fifth level, extermination genocide. The Nazi genocide campaign that resulted in the murder of 6,000,000 Jewish people during World War II also targeted undocumented immigrants and gypsies, prostitutes, Jehova s Witnesses, people with disabilities and homosexuals for annihilation in the death camps. There are people in the United States and in many other countries around the world today, government officials, religious leaders, grass roots political organisers, who have publicly advocated the extermination of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people. Pointers: Not everyone responds well to being talked at or lectured. However, for those who do, this offers an alternative model of how homophobia (and other prejudices) can be acted out. If you use the handout you may be able to more quickly talk through the points. Adapted from Challenging Homophobia: Online Workshop Copyright Cait Downing, San Francisco. All rights reserved. Part 3 The Exercises The Theory Bit Homophobia in action 53

56 Allport s mode of acting out prejudice Levels of acting out Antilocution (name calling, stereotyping) Looks like Begins with simple name-calling, develops into stereotyping, then moves into Avoidance (defamation by omission, exclusion) defamation by omission. The targeted person is misrepresented as a member of the targeted class. Later, with defamation by omission, the target is prevented from any representation at all. The unknown is more frightening and easier to make things up about Discrimination (refusal of service, denial of opportunity) Patterns of name-calling, stereotyping and omission extend to social avoidance (from the attitude of the high school student disowning her friend upon discovering that she is a lesbian to the unofficial organisational proclamation, We don t have people like that in our club. ) These tactics can keep targeted individuals from entering the agent s group but it doesn t make them go away completely. Physical attack (threat of physical violence, murder) Extermination (mass assassination, genocide) The intolerance that feeds exclusion can also feed efforts at intimidation, trying to push the entire targeted group away. This is when discrimination intensifies into physical attack. Beginning with the threat of violence, this level of prejudiced action escalates easily from isolated spontaneous incidents into group behaviour. Once you ve got groups acting out their prejudice with physical violence, the way is prepared for directing that energy methodically, in the name of war, or some misconceived ideology. Then you have reached genocide. The Nazi genocide campaign that resulted in the murder of 6,000,000 Jewish people during World War II also targeted undocumented immigrants and gypsies, prostitutes, Jehova s Witnesses, people with disabilities and homosexuals for annihilation in the death camps. Adapted from Challenging Homophobia: Online Workshop Copyright Cait Downing, San Francisco. All rights reserved.

57 Procedure: The discrimination gap (20 Minutes) Players: Purpose: Prepare: Large group. A quick outline of the discrimination gap theory. Whiteboard and whiteboard markers. Process: Present an outline of the discrimination gap. Draw up the diagram as demonstrated. Read out the notes attached. Ask people the questions suggested and allow for discussion to flow. Patter: It appears, if we can transfer the American statistics to our shores for a moment, that consistently more than half of the public view homosexuality negatively. (Draw this up as follows) more than 50% opposed to homosexuality At the same time, closer to 75% are opposed to discrimination (Draw up adding to the first line, as follows): more than 50% opposed to homosexuality - 75% opposed to discrimination The author and American activist Urvashi Vaid concludes from this At the same time that the majority of Americans think being gay is morally wrong, a bigger majority condemn anti-gay discrimination. The American people do not like unfairness. It doesn t take much to apply the same thoughts to the Australian public, with our concept of a fair go. What does this tell us about the discrimination gap, the overlap between these two groups? (Draw up on diagram as follows) more than 50% opposed to homosexuality 25% overlap (the discrimination gap) 75% opposed to discrimination The paradox then, is this gap between not wanting to discriminate, but wanting to be able to ask for the right to do so under certain circumstances. For example, the majority of people may say they don t wish for discrimination against gay and lesbian people and yet would argue against the rights of the same people to have their relationships recognised as equal under the law, or the right for them to adopt children. A significant proportion of people (with obvious overlap in the first group) don t want lesbians and gay men to enjoy the same degree of rights as others in the population. This can lead to a situation where people discriminate, but don t want to be seen to be doing so. continued next page Part 3 The Exercises The Theory Bit The discrimination gap 55

58 Questions To Discuss: What happens when someone feels opposed to something but doesn t want to be seen to be opposing it? Ask people in the group what it might feel like for someone who says I m not against gay men but I don t think they should be left in charge of children? Where would that person fit in the diagram? Under this cover, there is a lot of discrimination which people attempt to explain away, often with key phrases such as: That s just how things are or People are just like that. How do you think a lesbian or gay male person feels when they suspect someone has said or done something they feel might be homophobic and they hear this as an explanation? Pointers: This may confront some in your group who mouth exactly the statements that you are offering as not being best practice. It can feel very depressing, almost as if there are too many big changes being asked of them as participants. This can feel like one more thing they ll have to think about, all the time, and there is already enough on their plates at work! Adapted from Mahamati & Kenton Miller s Parliamentary Submission to the Inquiry into Sexuality Discrimination December 1997 (Senate Legal and Constitutional References Committee) Part 3 The Exercises The Theory Bit The discrimination gap 56

59 Procedure: Gay/lesbian brainstorm (20 Minutes) Players: Purpose: Prepare: Large group/brainstorm. To expose the negative social environment that exists towards lesbians and gay men and to consider the consequences for lesbian and gay youth growing up in this social climate. A blackboard or larger sheets of paper and pens, or whiteboard and whiteboard markers. Process: Make two columns with the headings Gay and Lesbian. Ask them to brainstorm by calling out any words they ve heard people associate with the word gay. Explain that in brainstorming the aim is to get as many words as possible on the board without any discussion. Make sure you record everyone s contribution whether you approve of it or not. Participants may call words out too fast for you to write so say you think you missed some so people can repeat their words and have their contribution acknowledged by being written up. After you have words, repeat this process for words they associate with lesbian. Patter: Begin by asking it there are any positive words on the board you may well have occupations like actor, interior designer, bus driver cited as positive. Talk about how these associations many not appear to be negative but they are still stereotypes (see Patter ). Similarly dyke may be cited as a positive word. Point out that some lesbians do call each other dykes but that when heterosexuals use this word it s mostly in a negative way. Circle any positive words. (You are unlikely to get many in either list.) Underline any words that may in some way be positive or is a stereotype. Talk about how young gays and lesbians grow up through this climate of extreme negativity and how this impacts on their feelings and themselves. Mention that the suicide rate for lesbian and gay youth is two or three times higher that for heterosexual youth, not because they have a problem as gays and lesbians but because society has a problem with gays and lesbians. Tell the students you are going to rub everything but the completely positive words off the board. Usually there are almost no words left except the headings (see Pointers ). Begin by saying Just as the temperature and the weather give us a particular physical climate, so the attitudes and beliefs people hold give us a certain social climate. When it rains and we re outside, we all get wet whether we like it or not. Similarly we are all affected by the social climate in which we live. We take on ideas that we may not consciously choose but because they are part of the climate we don t ever examine them or think about their implications. continued next page Part 3 The Exercises The Theory Bit Gay/lesbian brainstorm 57

60 What we re going to do is take a look at this negative social environment by looking at the words people associate with the terms lesbian and gay. These may not be words you use but you ve heard other people use. Gay men and lesbians work in all occupations. Plenty of gay men play rugby and work as plumbers, businessmen and bricklayers and lesbians are working as secretaries, doctors, factory workers and so on. During the brainstorming you may like to prompt the group by asking a few questions such as What do gay people look like?, What jobs do they do?, How do they act?, What about positive words?. Pointers: Some students may need a bit of encouragement to use the slang and very abusive and negative words that always come forward in this activity. Give permission by talking about your own childhood and the negative impressions you gained about lesbians and gay men eg. All I heard about was that homosexuals molest little boys and if an older school teacher was a Miss then she must be a lezzie. It is also important to declare your stance before beginning the brainstorm by saying that we live in an overwhelmingly negative social environment that is based largely on myths and misinformation. This is a message to gays and lesbians in the class that you support them. Part 3 The Exercises The Theory Bit Gay/lesbian brainstorm The point where you tell the students you are going to rub everything but the completely positive words off the board, usually impresses upon the students just how hard it is for young lesbians and gays. Given there are usually almost no words left except the headings it can emphasise how they have to live in such a negative environment. Adapted from Affirming Diversity - An Educational Resource on Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Orientations by Sally Liggins, Annemarie Wille, Shaun Hawthorne and Leigh Rampton (1994, Auckland Education Unit, New Zealand Family Planning Association) 58

61 Procedure: Kinsey Sexuality Chart (25 Minutes) Players: Purpose: Prepare: Large group. To provide participants with a framework for understanding a continuum for sexuality. Handout of the Kinsey scale (on page following). Kinsey cards (on page following). Paper plates (or pieces of cardboard) with 1 6 drawn on them. Process: Begin the exercise by introducing Alfred Kinsey s research. Either draw up the Kinsey scale (and the definitions of nought to six) or pass out the relevant handout as you talk. Following this place the paper plates (or pieces of cardboard) marked from 0 to 6 on the floor in a circle, and then pass out the Kinsey cards. Participants are then asked to place the card on the scale. They may seek help or discuss it with the group. Patter: Alfred Kinsey lived He was the product of a strongly rigid and religious home. He began by teaching marriage courses at university in the mid-west, and was seen as a conservative professor. He developed an interest in marginal groups (Prisoners, homosexuals, prostitutes) as a result of the many questions asked him. He collected more data because of the insufficient amount available. He travelled a lot to get case histories and stories, going to Chicago to mix with the gay community. After some years of study he realised they were everywhere, and he could just as easily have got his material from his hometown. At this time in America s history homosexuality was seen as a flaw in the character at best, or an illness, and was considered to be a rare occurrence. His investigations sparked off disapproval and alarmed conservative America. Instead of the view of homosexuality being quite rare, the investigation revealed: 37% of men had a homosexual experience 50% of adult males admitted to being sexually attracted to men. 10% of married men in their 20s make homosexual contact after their marriage (More current stats suggest 1 in 25 married men have same sex encounters.) Adapted from Block Out/Challening Homphobia Education Training Manual by Kenton Penley Miller & Mahamati. The Second Story Youth Health Service and Youth Sector Training Council developed this training package in South Australia, 1994 Part 3 The Exercises The Theory Bit Kinsey sexuality chart 59

62 Kinsey s Sexuality Chart 0 Exclusively heterosexual 1 Predominantly heterosexual, incidentally homosexual 2 Predominantly heterosexual, more than incidentally homosexual 3 Equally heterosexual and homosexual 4 Predominantly homosexual, more than incidentally hetero. 5 Predominantly homosexual, incidentally heterosexual 6 Exclusively homosexual Some Kinsey Facts Part 3 The Exercises The Theory Bit Kinsey sexuality chart Alfred Kinsey s investigations sparked off disapproval and alarmed conservative America. Instead of the view of homosexuality being quite rare, the investigation revealed: 37% of men had a homosexual experience 50% of adult males admitted to being sexually attracted to men. 10% of married men in their 20s make homosexual contact after their marriage (More current stats suggest 1 in 25 married men have same sex encounters.) Some additional statistics about men from Kinsey s studies are: 37% of all men had experienced an orgasm in a sexual activity with another man before. 60% of all men had some type of homosexual relationship before they were sixteen. 30% of all men had some type of homosexual relationship between the ages of

63 Kinsey card examples Man 30, in jail for 9 years. Married but the marriage is unlikely to last his prison term. Has oral sex with other men in jail, fantasises about other women when masturbating. Young woman, 18, no sexual relationships yet. Finds herself attracted to her female lecturer and is worried in case she is lesbian. Shy around most men, goes out with platonic girlfriends. Man, 55, widower, no sexual relationships since his wife died two years ago. Masturbates watching straight porn videos. Woman, 35, divorced, goes to singles bars to meet men. Has short term relationships but would like to get re-married. Man, 28, gay political activist. Has had several relationships with men over the years, and casual sex at the sauna. Has become attracted to a woman he is working with on a political event, and is fantasising about having sex with her. Man, 26, gay relationships with other men through teen years and as young adult. Meets men in social situations and gay bars when he goes to the city, would like to develop long term settled relationship. Woman, 30, in relationship with other woman, 25. She is a sex worker, mostly on escort work with businessmen and the tourism industry, although occasionally does threesomes with another woman on special requests from the agency. Woman, 30, married with two children. Enjoyed same sex experiences with girlfriends as a teenager. Part of a swinging group with her husband and feels she could be bi with the right woman. Likes watching two women together. Man, 40, public servant. When on interstate conferences calls male escort agencies for sex workers. At home only has relationships with women and is afraid of anyone finding out about his secret behaviours, so restricts them to out-of-town times. Woman, 36, in long term relationship with woman, 24. This relationship is looking shaky, and she finds herself attracted to a younger man in her study group who is paying her lots of attention. She fantasises about investigating her responses to men with him. Married man, hobby farmer, 40. Childhood sexual experiences with both sexes. Relationships with girls in adolescence, married at 23. Has casual sexual contact at the beats with other men. Sees this as a way of meeting his sexual needs without being known as a poofter. Part 3 The Exercises The Theory Bit Kinsey sexuality chart 61

64 Procedure: Levels of homophobia (30 Minutes) Players: Purpose: Prepare: Large group. To familiarise participants with the different levels in which homophobia is acted out as per the Levels overhead and theory bit. Whiteboard markers. Levels cards. Handouts outlining levels (optional). Process: Present an outline of the levels of homophobia. As you go through the different levels (after the first one, which many people find a bit too theoretical) you might ask people to come up with their own examples. If not from their life, they may like to use stories they ve heard about others. After the input, participants are invited to form small groups of four or five. Each group is given a pack of cards that tell a scenario. Inside the groups each is invited to take a card in turn, read out to the rest of group, and discuss whether the scenario is an example of personal/interpersonal/ cultural/institutional homophobia, a mixture of one or two levels, or perhaps them all. Facilitators move around the groups to assist or listen up and gauge understanding. Bring whole group back together at the end of the exercise and invite feedback and comments, discussion of any with were hotly debated in the small group. Part 3 The Exercises The Theory Bit Levels of homophobia Patter: Homophobia, like all forms of oppression, makes itself felt in many ways. What we re going to do is to dip into different models. We believe there is not enough understanding of the levels at which homophobia occurs. Cooper Thompson and Barbara Zoloth of the Campaign to End Homophobia first wrote up a useful framework, which we have further developed. We have elaborated upon their original four levels by adding to it; suggesting that some forms of homophobia are obvious to most people, but some are more hidden. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people usually feel these. Personal or internalised homophobia: On a personal level, this is where the fear or hatred of homosexuality exists as a thought inside a person s head. For heterosexual people, this is called personal homophobia ; a prejudice that can be around being perceived as being gay or lesbian. This can lead to trying to prove one s heterosexuality. For gay, lesbian and bisexual people there are a range of complex reactions called internalised homophobia. More on this later. Obvious homophobia: Making a determined effort to dress or act in such a way as to not appear to be gay or lesbian. Hidden homophobia: Having bad feelings or a lowered self-esteem because of concerns around anything to do with gays or lesbians. continued next page 62

65 Interpersonal homophobia: Individual behaviour based on personal homophobia. Hatred or dislike displayed towards others who are, or are perceived to be gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender Obvious homophobia: Violence, physical harassment, name calling, and other obvious examples, such as anti-gay hate crimes (from bashings to murders). This is what most people think of when they think of homophobia. Hidden homophobia: The telling of jokes that put down or misrepresent gays or lesbians, the request to keep our behaviour hidden, the suggestion that we should understand when we are treated differently. Institutional homophobia: The many ways in which government, business, churches and other institutions and organisations discriminate against gay and lesbian people. Obvious homophobia: Policy or legislation that actively prevents us from being able to marry or adopt, superannuation not automatically going to a surviving same sex partner, the homosexual panic defence clause used to pardon the killers of gay man. Hidden homophobia: Offering only the choices of married, single, de facto or divorced on membership sheets, data collation ignoring sexuality as a category, the same sex liaisons of famous people in history being hidden, selectively quoting the Bible on homosexuality to uphold church teachings. Pointers: Cultural homophobia: Social standards or norms that support the overrepresentation of heterosexuality as better and more morally correct, pervading all forms of media. Often heterosexuals are not aware these standards even exist, while gay and lesbian people can be painfully aware of them. Obvious homophobia: Showing clips of the Mardi Gras every time there is a news story on TV on gays and lesbians, using homosexual and ignoring it when we achieve something that is beneficial. Hidden homophobia: Failing to address the absence of positive role models in the media of lesbian, gay and bisexual people, considering that the broadcast of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras for two hours a year is too much. Be careful in case this turns into a The Dreadful Thing Happened To Me (or someone I know) group therapy session. Be clear that, as a tool of oppression, these things can happen to all people perceived to be gay or lesbian (to varying degrees). It s often nothing personal. It may also be a bit difficult for people to grasp so don t waste time teaching it on a conceptual level. Illustrate with your own examples (think of a few ahead of the group) or ask for some within the group. It may also help to go through one example of the Levels cards with the whole group. Adapted from Block Out/Challenging Homophobia Education Training Manual by Kenton Penley Miller & Mahamati. The Second Story Youth Health Service and Youth Sector Training Council developed this training package in South Australia, Part 3 The Exercises The Theory Bit Levels of homophobia 63

66 Personal or internalised homophobia On a personal level, this is where the fear or hatred of homosexuality exists as a thought inside a person s head. For heterosexual people, this prejudice can be around being perceived as being gay or lesbian.; this can lead to trying to prove one s heterosexuality. For gay, lesbian and bisexual people there are a range of complex reactions that we explore in our Scale of Internalised Attitudes Obvious homophobia Hidden homophobia Making a determined effort to dress or act in such a way as to not appear to be gay or lesbian. Having bad feelings or a lowered self-esteem because of concerns around anything to do with gays or lesbians. Part 3 The Exercises The Theory Bit Levels of homophobia Interpersonal homophobia Individual behaviour based on personal homophobia. Hatred or dislike displayed towards others who are, or are perceived to be gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. Obvious homophobia Violence, physical harassment, name calling, and other obvious examples, such as anti-gay hate crimes (from bashings to murders). This is what most people think of when they think of homophobia. Hidden homophobia The telling of jokes that put down or misrepresent gays or lesbians, the request to keep our behaviour hidden, the suggestion that we should understand when we are treated differently. 64

67 Institutional homophobia The many ways in which government, business, churches and other institutions and organisations discriminate against gay and lesbian people. Obvious homophobia Hidden homophobia Policy or legislation that actively prevents us from being able to marry or adopt, superannuation not automatically going to a surviving same sex partner, the homosexual panic defence clause used to pardon the killers of gay man. Offering only the choices of married, single, de facto or divorced on membership sheets, data collation ignoring sexuality as a category, the same sex liaisons of famous people in history being hidden, selectively quoting the Bible on homosexuality to uphold church teachings. Cultural homophobia Social standards or norms that support the over-representation of heterosexuality as better and more morally correct, pervading all forms of media. Often heterosexuals are not aware these standards even exist, while gay and lesbian people can be painfully aware of them. Obvious homophobia Showing clips of the Mardi Gras every time there is a news story on TV on gays and lesbians, using homosexual and paedophile interchangeably in newspaper stories, including references to gays in the headlines when we are either perpetrators or victims, ignoring it when we achieve something that is beneficial. Hidden homophobia Failing to address the absence of positive role models in the media of lesbian, gay and bisexual people, considering that the broadcast of the Sydney gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras for two hours a year is too much. Part 3 The Exercises The Theory Bit Levels of homophobia 65

68 Levels card examples There is a big family wedding. Everyone in the town will be going. A young woman is invited, but her partner of three years is not. She is disappointed because she felt her parents accepted her partner and lesbian sexuality, and thought they would both be included in the family gatherings. John is l4 and keen on football. However, he pretends he isn t and tells his Dad that he doesn t want to play this season. The real reason is because he is afraid of being in the change rooms with all the guys and that he will get an erection. Every time Jane and her girlfriend go to the roadhouse for hamburgers the local lads snigger and point, ask them for a date and say they are just the man for them. Mary has known she was a lesbian from when she was a teenager. Her family are religious and blatantly condemn homosexuality as a sin. When the issue comes up because her church is discussing whether to include gays and lesbians in full church membership Mary avoids going to meetings. Now that Mary is home nursing in the local hospital she always tries to arrange an extra shift for these evenings so it won t be obvious. A high school boy is discovered to be a good dancer and attends class three nights a week after school. He has to leave early to get a lift to reach there in time and his class mates always give him a hard time - Going to the Poofter club again are you? etc. Part 3 The Exercises The Theory Bit Levels of homophobia You see two men kiss and hug each other goodbye. As one goes off to the train at the station, the other notices you saw them...he hastily walks over and explains to you that you shouldn t get the wrong idea, we re brothers. Your l0 year old nephew tells you that he is angry at his parents because they won t let him play at his neighbours house. Through the family network you find out that the reason for his parents decision is that the friend s father is gay and lives with his lover. In year l2 Anne takes a famous lesbian as her special history project and in the process outs herself. She becomes passionate about women s history, especially the invisibility of lesbians and wants to tell everyone all about it. She requests special books from the city library and writes all her book reviews about lesbians in history. Finally her form teacher takes her aside and advises her to cool it, everyone is getting tired of hearing about lesbians and she is putting them off even more. Although the law is the same for heterosexuals, the police arrest records show that it is predominantly men who have sex with men who are arrested for sex in public places, rather than heterosexuals. Are You Being Served? is still re-run on television in non-rating periods. Nearly 20 years after it was made, it shows a camp-acting menswear assistant who finds all men attractive, still lives with his mother and never actually has a satisfactory love life. 66

69 Leaving a club in a nearby town, two dykes are followed by a group of young men who verbally harass them as being a lemon, needing to find the right man and being man haters. A young man in the Anglican Church has been successfully working on many groups and committees over the last few years. Although some people want him to apply his magic touch to the lagging energies of the youth group, when it is found out he is gay, he is told that Church policy forbids him working with minors. A young man at TAFE goes to the drama club and is cast for the end of year play as a drag queen. He has not told anyone he is gay, and feels that if he takes the part and does it well he will not be able to cope with the teasing from his mates. He decides to drop out of the club altogether rather than risk exposure. Your local newspaper runs a collective column on readers views about the influx of gay tourists to your piece of rural paradise. Right next to it the editor places two other letters that disagree with lesbians raising children, one of which implies that they might abuse the children and be unfit mothers. A high school student has discovered the Gay Internet chat lines and every weekend goes to the next town to access them. He has several on-line romances and one wants to come and visit him over Easter. He has told people he is working on an Internet project for Computer studies, and that someone working on the same topic will be visiting him. He is now worried what this person will look like, how he will dress and will this out him. The Youth Suicide Prevention project team in your area is made up of local service providers and Local Govt. councillors. They have consistently refused to attend workshops about homophobia because it doesn t apply in our region. Cathy is an out lesbian at work. The guys make a bit of a spectacle of themselves, sometimes call her names like lezzo, but she has been able to ignore that. However, the guys believe she needs a lesson and shouldn t be ignoring them, so trap her in the parking area one evening when she is leaving work and sexually assault her. A promising child care worker is refused employment at the community centre because he is single and thought to be gay and the parents might object and take their children away. Two gay men argue that there is no homophobia in their town, that there is nothing to worry about. Further questioning tells that they would never walk down the main street hand in hand, or kiss hello in front of their accepting neighbours. John comes back from his annual Mardi Gras trip on the plane. It is full of post Mardi Gras folk on holidays and he enjoys the fun. Just before arrival he goes to the rest room and changes his T-shirt and de-gels his hair and ignores his newly made friends as they wait at the baggage carousel. Part 3 The Exercises The Theory Bit Levels of homophobia 67

70 At the annual family gathering at Christmas, your Uncle George tells a joke which puts down bisexuals. (You ve been good friends with Uncle George in the past, and he is known in the family as the joke teller.) During morning tea break at work, a workmate casually asks you if a fellow worker is married or involved with a woman. (You know the co-worker is gay, but closeted, and has had a lover for five years.) There has been anti-lesbian graffiti at your local TAFE. The Board of Administrators agree to address it at their next meeting, but in their policies write it up as misogynist, or anti-female victimisation, without any specific reference to the lesbian content. The new character on Home and Away who at first seems to fit in alright, is revealed to be both a child molester and a homosexual on the same night. The Education Department decides that homosexuality should not comprise a part of their core sex education component in biology, but will be offered as an elective, with attendance depending on parental permission. Part 3 The Exercises The Theory Bit Levels of homophobia The second to smallest boy in your class at school picks a fight with the smallest boy, and beats him up, loudly calling him a poofter. The Church based AIDS Care unit set in policy their decision to care for people with AIDS but firmly avoid setting in place any policies that commit them to preventative safer sex education that may seem to condone the homosexual lifestyle. At smoko everyone else is talking about their dates for the weekend. None of them knows that you are gay, so you politely tell them you don t have a date. They insist they know just the girl for you and proceed to set you up with her. A gay friend tells you he is writing a classified for himself and asks your advice on the wording. He asks you if you think he could describe himself as straight acting seeking same as he particularly doesn t want any effeminate queers to answer his advert. A mutual gay acquaintance tells you that a good gay friend got bashed over the weekend. He finishes telling you by saying he was doing the beats though, so if you want my opinion, he was asking for it. The Pope apologises for the Catholic Church s bad treatment of numerous minority groups, but fails to extend that apology to gays and lesbians. 68

71 Procedure: Gay timeline (20 Minutes) Players: Purpose: Prepare: Large group. To allow individual participants to trace their memories to see where their attitudes about homosexuality may have been formed. Paper and pens. Whiteboard and whiteboard markers. Process: Introduce the concept of the timeline. This works best if the concept is not only explained, but personalised as well (see Patter ). Draw up a line with age slots 0-10, 10-15, 15-20, 20-25, 25-30, Examples given may be: From 0-10, I didn t hear anything. From 10-15, I overheard talk about the neighbour s son as being queer. This could also be done as l0 yo 20 yo 25 yo 30 yo 40 yo 50 yo etc. depending on the group. The age groups need not be rigid. People might want it written up as child, school students, college/uni/working, young adult, adult. The participants take sheets of butchers paper and spend about fifteen minutes drawing up their own time lines. Participants are told they do not have to show anyone else their work. Patter: Encourage people to write down the verbal messages as they remember them being said. People can also throw in examples of the following that might have made an impact: Film or television images Newspaper or other news coverage Relative s or Workmate s attitudes Things heard at kids school(s) Current affair show depictions Talkback radio examples Jokes they may have heard Once the time lines are completed, return to the larger group and ask if there are volunteers to contribute, from their own time lines, messages that they got. On the whiteboard draw up two columns; negative messages and positive messages. Alternatively, at the end of the time participants could be asked to debrief with person next to them (or in small groups). In short hand write up people s contributions (ie: positive: 0-10, gay uncle, gave gifts, Best friend told me she was lesbian. negative: 20-25, Fred Nile, bible bashing, 40-50, Heard about banning of gay anti-suicide poster in WA by Federal Minister.) This is an opportunity for you to work alone on writing up a personal time line about when you heard stuff around gay, bisexual and lesbian people, and where or how you heard it. Write up what sort of messages you got as well. Personal example...eg. When I was a kid I hung out with a neighbourhood group, one of which had an older brother who was deemed queer, the word of my day. He was a loner, artistic and we didn t really associate with him, but it was the group think continued next page Part 3 The Exercises The Theory Bit Gay timeline 69

72 that he was not OK and that queer was something not to be. Robert definitely was queer and some years later committed suicide as a response to his distress of being different and others treatment of him. I would say this was a negative message to me, yet it was countered by a positive one. A girlfriend had an uncle who was said to be gay. He travelled a lot and would bring her back wonderful dolls from all over the world. I associated this gift giving and gay as very positive! Pointers: This can be a really good discussion opener, but needs a lot of facilitation to keep people from straying too far from the subject. Consider raising these points: How do you answer your kids/young people s questions about Mardi Gras or TV shows? Do you challenge misconceptions that you might overhear? Is it difficult to disagree with people s opinions when you don t have good information to counter it with? Adapted from Block Out/Challenging Homophobia Education Training Manual by Kenton Penley Miller & Mahamati. The Second Story Youth Health Service and Youth Sector Training Council developed this training package in South Australia, Part 3 The Exercises The Theory Bit Gay timeline 70

73 Procedure: Scale of homophobic attitudes (20 Minutes) Players: Purpose: Prepare: Large group. To enable the group to understand a range of homophobia attitudes. Whiteboard and whiteboard markers (optional). Handout of Dr. Dorothy Riddles Scale of Homophobic Attitudes. Cards (or placemats) written with the different levels (for laying out on the floor Process: Read out (or deliver in a chattier style) the information contained below in the Patter ). To energise the talk, you can make up bright coloured cards (or use the back of plastic placemats) and place them on the floor as you read out the different levels. Encourage discussion of any of the points. What thoughts do people have to contribute? Patter: During the early eighties, Dr. Dorothy Riddle developed a scale to measure four bad levels of homophobia, and suggesting four improved attitudes that could be adopted. We think that devoting specific space here to better understanding the four bad attitudes will help to further understand the ways in which homophobia, or sexuality based upon discrimination, operates. She begins the scale with the level of: Repulsion: People who feel repulsion towards gay, lesbian and bisexual people see homosexuality as a crime against nature. We are seen as crazy, immoral, sinful, etc., and anything that can be done to change us (eg. legislation, psychiatric care) should be encouraged. This is sometimes expressed by phrases such as When I think about what you people do in bed! or AIDS is God s punishment upon homosexuals. Pity: This is a heterosexual chauvinism in which heterosexuality is seen as maturer, and certainly preferential. Being gay or lesbian is looked down upon as a less fortunate circumstance. This is expressed by such phrases as The poor dears, they can t help themselves, and a searching for the cause of homosexuality: often in the hope of finding a cure. Tolerance: This attitude sees homosexuality as just a phase that people go through, suggesting that most people are capable of growing out of it. This leads to the thought that gay, lesbian and bisexual people are stuck in a kind of arrested adolescent development. The further inference here is that we are, again, not mature or responsible enough as people. To be tolerated is quite simply to be put up with. Acceptance: This attitude is the subtlest form of homophobia. When we teach people about this aspect, we are often met with resistance initially, as many people believe they are doing well to be accepting of gay, lesbian or bisexual people. We point out that it still implies that there is something to have to accept, inferring a position of superiority in the person condoning the behaviour or identity. The simplest way to point this out is to ask how people would feel if this were reversed, and we said to them We accept you for being heterosexual. continued next page Part 3 The Exercises The Theory Bit Scale of homophobic attitudes 71

74 This is often characterised by such phrases as You re not gay to me, you re just a person, or What you do in bed is your own business, or That s fine, as long as you don t flaunt it. These deny the social and legal realities of the differences between us. The word flaunt often means doing or saying anything that will make people aware of our sexuality. Contrary to the myth of young people having to be recruited, people who are gay, lesbian or bisexual often know this from a young age, and are very aware of intolerance and hatred towards their kind. We grow up both being in the heterosexual culture, and yet just outside of it as observers. (Incidentally, this could be seen as a kind of strength that many gays and lesbians bring to their workplaces, or groups they work with. We become what the social researchers call observer/participants, able to simultaneously contribute to and experience something whilst being able to constructively critique it.) There are many fears that impact upon us, often creating a series of feelings that ensure we are not just the same. To suggest an easy equality is to ignore the pain and stress of living in the closet. If one was to look for a distinguishing feature of a gay or lesbian client, it might be exhaustion, as we constantly have had to edit our talk (about how our lives really are) for others consumption every day. Part 3 The Exercises The Theory Bit Scale of homophobic attitudes Even as adults in a welcoming workplace, we have to think how much is it okay for me to share here? Simple acts taken for granted, such as being able to kiss your partner hello in the street, have to be avoided, or we will be seen as asking for the unwanted attention this might attract. Dr. Dorothy s four improved attitudes are those of: Support (where people may still have a basic intolerance of what we do in bed, but believe in the safeguarding of everybody s rights), Admiration (acknowledging that surviving as gay or lesbian people takes strength; people with this attitude are willing to look at their own homophobia), Appreciation (these are people who value diversity, and see us as a valid part of that diversity; people with this attitude are willing to combat other people s homophobia) and Nurturance (people who nurture us assume lesbian, gay and bisexual people are indispensable in our society, viewing us with genuine affection and delight, and are willing to be gay advocates). The main difficulty with such a scale is, of course, the linear model that suggests good at one end, and bad at the other. Another key difficulty is that it is possible to exist on more than one level at the same time. We certainly point out in our training that it is possible for gay men to hold good attitudes around gay men, for example, but to be merely tolerant of lesbian women. Or, to quote another of our examples, that it is possible for a lesbian woman to hold the attitude of repulsion towards a lesbian identified transgendered woman. continued next page 72

75 Pointers: Not everyone responds well to being talked at or lectured. However, for those that do, this covers some basic concepts fairly quickly. If you re using cards on the floor, be sure to place Repulsion on the floor closest to the front of the room near the Trainer(s) and finish with Nurturance near the participants. Some participants may take offence if the negative levels are placed too near them, and the better levels near the trainer(s). Be aware that people often occupy more than one position on the scale (ie. both Acceptance and Support ). You should also be aware that there is usually a lot of resistance around seeing Acceptance as a bad level. Reinforce the rule of thumb, pointing out that: The model could be presented in three parts instead of two, with Acceptance on an Intermediate level (see Internalised scale for more details). You may also want to make the point that some words, such as Appreciation, could easily be replaced with another word, such as Respect. The Trainer may wish to explain why we are using this model and not others (Quite simply, because it is simple without being simplistic, and is a good base level model that can be built upon). This model has its faults, is by no means definitive, but is useful as a key to opening understanding. Adapted from Block Out/Challenging Homophobia Education Training Manual by Kenton Penley Miller & Mahamati. The Second Story Youth Health Service and Youth Sector Training Council developed this training package in South Australia, Part 3 The Exercises The Theory Bit Scale of homophobic attitudes 73

78 Procedure: Scale of internalised homophobic attitudes (30 Mins) Players: Purpose: Prepare: Large group/small groups. To enable the group to understand a range of internalised homophobia attitudes and their effects. For participants to demonstrate understanding the impact internalised homophobia has on an individual s life and the consequences of this. Whiteboard and whiteboard markers (optional). Handout of Dr Dorothy Riddles Scale of Homophobic Attitudes. Cards (or placemats) written with the different levels (for laying out on the floor). Butcher s paper & pens/textas. Process: Read out (or deliver in a chattier style) the information contained below in the Patter ). To energise the talk, you can make up bright coloured cards (or use the back of plastic placemats) and place them on the floor as you read out the different levels. Part 3 The Exercises The Theory Bit Scale of internalised homophobic attitudes Patter: Encourage discussion of any of the points. What thoughts do people have to contribute? Divide group up into small groups of 4 or so. Give each group one of the cards from the Internalised Scale of Attitudes. Try to mix negative and positive attitudes (eg. if there are only four groups use Celebration, Supportiveness, Resignation and Self Hatred). Suggest that the small group formed is a team in the workplace who are very outcome and goal focused. They badly wish to achieve their aims. Someone new has joined the team and they have the knowledge that he is gay. If he was at the place of (whatever is on their group s card), what do they think the impact of the newcomer s energy would be on the team (both positive and negative), their goal and their group achievement? What sort of behaviours might they expect from this person, how could they assist, what observations might they make? A volunteer to feedback to the main group is required, butcher s paper and pen needed. Bring whole group back together at the end of the exercise and invite each group s feedback and comments. Facilitate discussion. This is our suggested scale of internalised attitudes, slightly up-dated after constant use. To begin with, we ve added an attitude that sits outside the scale: Denial: After presenting the Scale of internalised homophobia to a number of different lesbian, gay and bisexual groups, we realised that there was another level called for. Denial was that all-important stage that precedes any recognition or admission to self that you might even be gay or lesbian. Sure, the thought s occurred on some level, otherwise there wouldn t be anything to deny. However, the possibility is so repugnant or horrible that even entertaining the thought, or acting upon it, is out of the question. The people who most commonly raised this point had been married for a number of years, or been in the priesthood or had been nuns. continued next page 76

79 Three negative internalised homophobic attitudes It needs to be said that these first three levels are almost totally supported by populist media and understanding of gay culture. Self-hatred: The loathing that a person can feel for themselves for being that way inclined. The person at this point takes on board all of the negative messages about being homosexual. Lowest of the low self-esteem. If not intensely closeted, or rampantly anti-gay, probably a person who goes on the scene and bad mouths all dykes and queens. May actively seek assistance to change their sexual inclination. The person at this point may well feel low self esteem, insecure, guilty, dirty, unworthy, defeated and isolated. They certainly sense that they have no right to succeed, being full of self-blame; convincing themselves that they re being punished and that they don t deserve anything good. This can lead to a noninteractive nature, full of anger and possibly aggression, though this violence can easily be turned inwards and show as suicidal ideation. Some counselling frameworks also suggest that bargaining can take place with yourself here: messages to the self like If it was only one woman then I can t really be a lesbian or If I get married, then... etc. and that there may be a lot of emphasis on passing behaviour. Self-pitying: The moment that this person realised they were burdened with their particular lot in life, severe depression set in. Sees being gay, bi or lesbian as a handicap and blames every misfortune or slight they personally suffer upon it. This person goes out of their way to avoid stereotypically gay or lesbian careers. Unable to sustain any emotional attachment because they either (a) believe the myth that our relationships don t last, or (b) just know that they don t deserve happiness. Feels either pity or contempt for others similarly blighted. May well utilise escape mechanisms to numb out (eg. drinking, drugs) Could also be known as The Dissonance Phase within some counselling frameworks; this can include going through stages of grieving for a lost self, and mourning both real and imagined losses of that which would have come with heterosexual privileges. A key thought/message that this person might play is probably Why me?!. They might well carry a lot of the self-hatred (listed above) and have enormous concerns if any can tell if they re gay, lesbian bisexual or transgender. Other messages to self may include: I don t deserve any better ; What have I done wrong to deserve this? ; I can t go to seek help, it s too risky to be up front ; I can t go on, I d be better off dead ; I m bad, something is wrong with me ; and Everyone is homophobic. The person at this level may be cautious/timid, demonstrate withdrawal; they might be living a lie to show an acceptable facade (such as living double life possibly); they may demonstrate apathy, and all these feelings may be a barrier to having a supportive relationship. Resignation: This person knows that there s not much they can do about their lot in life. They may tell some close people about their sexuality, but usually it s a case that if people can work it out for themselves, fair enough, but they re not going to ram it down their throats. May feel a need to apologise to others, if the news is upsetting for them. Not happy, not sad this is just their luck of the draw. Goes about being a nice person usually in the hope that others will like them for who they are and forgive their sexuality into the bargain. Messages to self may include Maybe they ll like me despite the fact that I m a dyke. Part 3 The Exercises The Theory Bit Scale of internalised homophobic attitudes continued next page 77

80 The person at this point may still feel a sense of powerlessness, and may still accept negative stereotypes. They certainly may have trouble identifying with safe sex messages aimed at proud/out gay men. At this level there may be a persistent feeling of shame hanging around still. Some counselling frameworks talk of the role of shame in creating a developmental lag, pointing out that shame can block the ordinary processing of feelings and thwart or escalate them. Thus, anger can go overboard into rage or violence, or it can be swallowed and twisted into contempt, resentment and cynicism. Sadness can be thwarted into a sea of despair or melancholy. Fear can be turned by shame into panic attacks, suspiciousness and lingering dread. And boy, when you mix guilt with shame, you ve got a whole lot of unrelenting self criticism, self blame, self punishment, depression and all the lack of joy that comes with that! Three internalised attitudes dealing with homophobia Part 3 The Exercises The Theory Bit Scale of internalised homophobic attitudes Self-acceptance: This person is often seen to be well adjusted to being gay. They ve figured out that there s nothing they can do about it, so they may as well enjoy life. Usually they don t believe in fighting for any gay or lesbian rights, because This is just the way I am, sexuality is just a part of my make-up, I m no different to anybody else. Can t really see the point of special magazines or services. All of this ignores the large cost to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community that homophobia accords, seeing the homophobes as just ratbags that you have to learn to put up with. Of course, this is a better spot to be in than many others, and some would argue it s preferable to thinking of oneself as different because of one s sexuality. Self-love: Begins to recognise that life as a gay, lesbian or bisexual is perhaps difficult enough to be the cause of some of their exhaustion. This person understands how homophobia may be affecting them detrimentally. People at this point see resting up and caring for themselves as a vital restorative tool. May choose to educate close friends and family. Loves movies and TV shows with gay and lesbian characters. Less restraint upon good feelings about one s accomplishments in life. Supportive: Has both gay and lesbian friends. Sees the gay community as being something that probably goes beyond the visible commercial scene, even if it s just a close group of friends. Able to show care not just for themselves, but for their gay and lesbian peers, acting as an advocate for people close to them. Able to interrupt internalised homophobia in other people and also quite capable of pointing out homophobia in others. Two internalised attitudes transcending homophobia Pride: Has a sense of specialness in being gay, lesbian or bisexual. Recognise that some of the tough times they have been through in their development have contributed to an increased sensitivity and resilience. If a cure was found for being gay or lesbian, this person would choose not to under-go treatment. Enjoys finding out about famous people in history who had same sex relationships, and informing everyone about them. Celebration: This person is behind the community events that celebrate our sexuality (eg. Mid-Summa, Mardi Gras). Not only feels a strong sense of pride but seeks to actively engender it in other people. Remembering that there are many expressions of pride. A dinner party, a gardening bee, or a Queer Home Page on the Internet can all be expressions of celebration of identity. continued next page 78

81 Remember that, while Pride and Celebration might be lovely places to visit every now and again, it would be exhausting to live there all the time. Also, there would be some who would argue that the last two levels are actually specialisation. Some see the peak of development as Habituation to homosexuality - where the person s sexuality becomes normal rather than unusual.. When we work with gay and lesbian co-workers, I think we also need to extend our understanding of covert internalised homophobia at a community level. This occurs inside of the community, and community based organisations, predominantly comprised of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people. This can be a form of built-up internalised homophobia, and commonly looks like gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people having the highest expectation (higher than others, often) of exacting standards of our people. Sadly it often takes the form of attack, based on the perception that they should do better - and like all internalised oppression, it can be an external projection that we need to do better, to excel, or we will not be accepted as good enough. For the exercise Pointers: May help to go through one of the examples you are not using in the small groups. e.g. Celebration - Maybe this person will always want holidays at Mardi Gras, the key time for your project to be finalised. Maybe they will be over the top and not at all closed about their sexuality and this may challenge other team members. Maybe their high energy and good sense of self will be catching and a positive influence on the team. Perhaps they will feel so good about themselves they will have spare energy to assist others in the team who are a bit downhearted. It could be that their path to this point has taught them about overcoming obstacles. This shares with the Scale of Homophobic Attitudes the difficulty of being a hierarchy that may leave people feeling as if you are judging them for not being further up the chart. You need to make this deficit in the model clear from the start to avoid being in a position of reacting defensively when you are called on to deal with that fault. It can create a great deal of defensiveness in participants when they feel as though being Self Accepting, something they might have fought their whole life to become, is deemed not good enough. The exercise can be adapted to other situations - e.g. a new teacher on staff when working on school inservices, new person in your tutorial group when working with TAFE and Uni students, new person on the P&C committee when working with parent groups. Adapted from Block Out/Challenging Homophobia Education Training Manual by Kenton Penley Miller & Mahamati. The Second Story Youth Health Service and Youth Sector Training Council developed this training package in South Australia, Part 3 The Exercises The Theory Bit Scale of internalised homophobic attitudes 79

84 Procedure: Shades of Gay Rainbow (Additional) Players: Purpose: Prepare: Large group. To provide participants with a framework for understanding the interconnectedness of the homophobia models. A whiteboard with the Shades of Gay drawn on it (or an overhead prepared form the blank version offered (on page following). Handouts of the Shades of Gay. Process: Utilise this model when placing up the information from the Levels of Homophobia, the Scale of Homophobic Attitudes and the Scale of Internalised Homophobic Attitudes. Write in the words for the appropriate levels (see Patter and Pointers ). Patter: When you have completed the rainbow you could make the following point: As you can see, there is no way that the Internalised homophobia could exist without the Levels and the other Attitudes there in place. It s not as if all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people wake up one day and say to themselves I think I ll hate myself for the rest of my life now. The internalised homophobia is the result of hearing all that other nonsense. If we were to imagine these as blocks and then pull away the Levels and the Attitudes, you d see the Internalised attitudes collapse without that support. Part 3 The Exercises The Theory Bit Shades of gay rainbow Pointers: This model works best if you offer the frameworks in the order of the Levels of Homophobia, then the Scale of Homophobic Attitudes and finally the Scale of Internalised Homophobic Attitudes. This is not really an exercise on its own, but rather a complimentary way of presenting the other models. Adapted from workshops run by Kenton Penley Miller & Mahamati. 82

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